Keeping tax return

Keep copies of tax returns to help you prepare future returns, as well as to help you if your return is questioned by the IRS.

Although you may only need information on an old return for three additional years, it is a good idea to keep old tax returns indefinitely. If the IRS claims you never filed a return it has an unlimited number of years in which to audit you. But if you have your old return along with proof that you filed it, the IRS only has three years, in most cases, to start an audit.

While you can obtain old returns for the IRS, this entails unnecessary time and expense.