# How long should I keep my tax records? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-i-keep-my-tax-records/353179 "2006-04-18T16:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-i-keep-my-tax-records/353179/1 "2006-04-18T16:45:08Z")
And how far back can the IRS audit? 3 years? 5? 7? More? I’ve been paying this audit protection thing for a couple years, and would be pretty happy to be completely care free when I file. Several years ago I had an accountant do my taxes. He worked out of his home, and I was was doing independant IT contracting, so my taxes were complicated enough to demand an accountant. I usually got small returns or owed a little. I have no reason to think anything untoward ever happened, but one year I went to get a hold of him, and all traces of the man had disappeared. Phone disconnected, no longer living at the address, poof, gone. I got a hold of the guy who referred me, and his opinion was he was shady, and he had stopped using him a couple years earlier. Thanks for tipping me off to that fact buddy. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-i-keep-my-tax-records/353179/2 "2006-04-18T16:58:49Z")
They can audit you back 7 years if they are investigating fraud. I think more routine audits can only go back 3 years. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-i-keep-my-tax-records/353179/3 "2006-04-18T17:09:58Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > They can audit you back 7 years if they are investigating fraud. I think more routine audits can only go back 3 years. I thought they can audit 7 years back in general, but there’s not statute of limitations on fraud. Meaning, keep them for seven years. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-i-keep-my-tax-records/353179/4 "2006-04-18T17:28:58Z")
No, it’s 3 years. No SOL on fraud. It doesn’t hurt to keep the actual return for maybe 10 years, but the supporting documentation needs only to be kept for 3years. Of course, it’s 3 years after you dispose of a deprecable capital asset (for most of us, that means keep records of the sael of your home for at least three years after the sale). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-i-keep-my-tax-records/353179/5 "2006-04-18T18:41:34Z")
IRS Publication 552: [_Recordkeeping for Individuals_](http://www.irs.gov/publications/p552/index.html). Section: [_How Long to Keep Records_](http://www.irs.gov/publications/p552/ar02.html#d0e617). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-i-keep-my-tax-records/353179/6 "2006-04-18T19:33:10Z")
I stand corrected! Sorry to throw a punch into the fight from the side of ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-i-keep-my-tax-records/353179/7 "2006-04-18T20:37:42Z")
Per my thread somewhere in this forum, **keep them forever**. The Soc. Sec. Admin. has a very difficult time recording your earnings for purposes of SS payouts. I say this from experience. The numbers change with every publication. I was unable to produce the paperwork to correct a problem, and they told me I was SOL. The number magically changed (with no proof provided by me) some time later, but I don’t know if it’s accurate. Then another number went bad. KEEP THEM FOREVER.