How many years should we hold onto old tax returns? Safe to shred or recycle?

Tax professional here! The general IRS recommendation is to keep your tax returns and supporting documents for at least 3 years from the date you filed the return. This is because the IRS typically has a 3-year window to assess additional taxes or initiate an audit. However, there are some important exceptions to this rule. If you underreported your income by more than 25%, the statute of limitations extends to 6 years. And if you filed a fraudulent return or didn't file a return at all, there's no statute of limitations - the IRS can come after you indefinitely. For most everyday taxpayers who report their income honestly, 3-7 years is sufficient. Personally, I recommend 7 years as a safe middle ground, especially if you have complex returns with business income, rental properties, or unusual deductions.

After having my identity stolen twice, I started using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to safely store and organize all my tax documents digitally. Before that I was drowning in paper and constantly worried about keeping the right documents. They scan and organize everything, and their AI can actually search through your docs to find specific info when you need it. Saved me tons of headache during an IRS question about a return from 4 years ago!

Just wanted to follow up on my question about taxr.ai. I decided to try it after all and I'm honestly impressed! Uploaded all my old tax docs (about 8 years worth) and now I can actually find stuff when I need it. Already helped me locate a missing 1099 from 2020 that my mortgage company needed. Way better than digging through boxes in my garage! The search function is seriously helpful - typed in "medical expenses 2019" and it pulled up the exact schedule I needed.

If you're trying to get guidance from the actual IRS about record retention, good luck reaching them! I wasted days trying to call their help line with no success. Then I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) - they called the IRS for me and got me connected with an actual agent in about 20 minutes! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent confirmed I only needed to keep basic returns for 3 years, but supporting documents for deductions should be kept for 7 years if they're significant. Tax documents related to property should be kept until you sell + 3 years after that tax filing.

I'm eating my words about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I had a question about an old 1040-X I filed. Not only did they get me through to the IRS in less than 30 minutes, but the agent was able to confirm my amended return was processed! Saved me hours of frustration and uncertainty. For something as important as tax questions, it was definitely worth it to actually speak with a real IRS person instead of guessing.

Everyone saying to shred tax returns after X years is giving dangerous advice! I keep ALL my tax returns forever, just digital copies after 7 years. You never know when you'll need proof of income from years ago - I had to provide 10 years of returns for a mortgage on an investment property. Just scan them and keep digital backups!

For SHREDDING - don't use those cheap home shredders! They make strip-cut pieces that can be reassembled. I volunteer at a community shred event twice a year and bring all my old tax docs there. They use commercial cross-cut shredders that turn everything to confetti. Check if your town or a local bank hosts these events - usually free!

Thanks for asking this question! I was literally just wondering the same thing while staring at my overflowing file cabinet. Based on what everyone's shared here, it sounds like 3-7 years is the sweet spot for most people, with 7 being safer if you want extra peace of mind. I'm definitely going to look into those community shred events that Seraphina mentioned - I had no idea those existed! My little home shredder would take forever to get through all these old returns, and it sounds way more secure to use the commercial ones. One thing I'm curious about - has anyone had experience with the IRS actually going back more than 3 years for a regular audit? I know Cole mentioned the exceptions, but I'm wondering how common it is in practice for them to look at older returns for typical W-2 employees without anything fancy going on.

I've been through a couple IRS audits over the years (nothing dramatic - just some business expense questions), and I can share what I learned about their timing. For my first audit in 2019, they only went back 2 years from when they contacted me. The second one in 2021 went back the full 3 years, but that was because I had some rental property income they wanted to verify. From talking to the agents, it seems like they rarely go beyond 3 years unless there's a red flag or they find something suspicious during the initial review. For regular W-2 folks with standard deductions, 3-4 years is probably fine, but I personally keep 7 years now just because those audits were stressful enough without worrying about missing documents! One tip - if you do get audited, having everything organized digitally makes the process SO much easier. I spent hours digging through paper files the first time, but the second audit was much smoother because I had scanned copies of everything organized by year and category.

This is such a timely question! I just went through this exact dilemma last month when cleaning out my home office. After reading through IRS Publication 552 and talking to my CPA, I settled on keeping 7 years for peace of mind. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you're self-employed or have a business, the rules can be different. The IRS recommends keeping employment tax records for at least 4 years after the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later. And if you have employees, you need to keep those records even longer. For disposal, I ended up doing a combination approach - took the really old stuff (10+ years) to a community shred event like Seraphina mentioned, and for the more recent ones I'm transitioning to digital storage first, then shredding the originals after scanning. That way I have the convenience of digital access but still meet the retention requirements. The community shred event was amazing by the way - they had industrial shredders that could handle a banker's box in about 30 seconds. Much better than my home shredder that would have taken me weeks!