The periods of limitation
The retention periods follow the periods of limitation: the time in which you can amend a return to claim a credit or refund, and the IRS can assess additional tax. The IRS page lists them as situations, and the right period is the longest one that applies. The dates in the table assume a 2025 return filed on April 15, 2026, the regular due date; a return filed earlier counts as filed on the due date, and one filed on extension starts its clock on the later filing date.
| Situation | Keep records for | For a 2025 return filed April 15, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| The general rule, when none of the situations below applies | 3 years | April 15, 2029; from the date the return was filed; a return filed early counts as filed on the due date |
| You file a claim for a credit or refund after filing | 3 years from filing or 2 years from paying the tax, whichever is later | April 15, 2029 or later |
| You claim a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction | 7 years | April 15, 2033 |
| You did not report income you should have, and it is more than 25 percent of the gross income on the return | 6 years | April 15, 2032 |
| You did not file a return | indefinitely | no end date |
| You filed a fraudulent return | indefinitely | no end date |
| Employment tax records (payroll) | at least 4 years | four years after the tax was due or paid, whichever is later |
| Records of property (a home, equipment, investments) | until the limitation period ends for the year you dispose of it | sale year plus 3 years, or longer under the rules above; needed to compute depreciation and the gain or loss on sale |
The cases that stretch it
- Six years if you did not report income that you should have, and it amounts to more than 25 percent of the gross income shown on the return. The IRS gets twice as long to look, so you keep the proof twice as long.
- Seven years if you claimed a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction.
- Indefinitely if you did not file a return for a year, or filed a fraudulent one: with no return there is no period of limitation to run out.
- Refund claims keep their own clock, 3 years from filing or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later, which matters when tax was paid late.
- Employment tax records, for anyone with employees, at least 4 years after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later.
Property is different
Records of property follow the property, not the year. The IRS says to keep them until the period of limitations expires for the year in which you dispose of the property, because they are what you need to figure depreciation, amortization or depletion while you hold it and the gain or loss when you sell or otherwise dispose of it. For a house that is the closing documents and every improvement receipt for as long as you own it, plus the period for the year of the sale; for business equipment it is the purchase record and the depreciation schedule; for investments the purchase confirmations that set the cost basis. The guide section 179 vs bonus depreciation shows why the basis record for equipment matters years after the purchase, and home office deduction why a homeowner's depreciation records are needed at sale.
What to keep with each return
| Kind of record | Examples | Period |
|---|---|---|
| The return and its schedules | Form 1040, Schedules A, C, D, SE and the rest, state returns | the longest period that applies to that year |
| Income | W-2s, 1099s, brokerage statements, bank interest statements, business invoices and sales records | with the return |
| Deductions and credits | receipts, invoices, cancelled checks, mileage logs, charitable acknowledgements, childcare and education statements | with the return |
| Business books | ledgers, bank and card statements, payroll records | with the return; payroll at least 4 years |
| Property | purchase and sale documents, improvement receipts, depreciation schedules, cost basis records | while owned, plus the period for the year of disposal |
| Retirement accounts | contribution records, especially nondeductible IRA contributions, and rollover records | until the account is fully distributed, plus the period for that year |
Keeping records is easier as one PDF per tax year than as a drawer. The PDF merger combines the return, the forms and the scanned receipts into one file, the PDF compressor keeps that file small enough to store and email, and for a business the invoice generator produces the income records in a form that is already a document.
A disposal routine
- Label the folder or file with the year and the date filed, because the period runs from filing.
- Default to 3 years, extend when a situation applies: a year with a bad-debt deduction is a 7-year folder, a year with payroll a 4-year one at least.
- Keep property records separately, by asset, so that selling the house in 2035 does not mean searching the 2019 folder.
- Before discarding, check the other reasons the IRS lists for keeping records: insurers and creditors may want them longer than the tax rules do.
- Shred, do not bin. Tax records carry Social Security numbers and account details; the guide credit freeze vs fraud alert covers what to do if they leak anyway.
This guide reports the federal retention periods as the IRS states them. State tax agencies can have different periods, and some records, the deed to a house or a retirement account's contribution history, are worth keeping for reasons that have nothing to do with the statute of limitations.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I keep tax returns and records?
The IRS's general rule is 3 years from the date you filed, the period during which you can amend the return and the IRS can assess additional tax. It stretches to 6 years if you left out income worth more than 25 percent of the gross income on the return, 7 years for a claim involving worthless securities or a bad debt, 4 years for employment tax records, and indefinitely if you never filed or filed a fraudulent return.
Does the 3 years start from the filing date or the due date?
From the date you filed, and the IRS treats a return filed before the due date as filed on the due date. So a 2025 return filed in February 2026 starts its 3 years on April 15, 2026, the same as one filed on the day. A return filed on extension in October starts the clock in October.
How long do I keep records for my house or other property?
Until the period of limitations expires for the year in which you dispose of the property, the IRS says, because you need the records to figure depreciation and the gain or loss when you sell. For a home that means the purchase documents and every improvement receipt are kept for the whole time you own it and for at least 3 years after the sale is reported.
Can I keep tax records digitally?
The IRS page on record retention is about how long, not in what form, and its categories of records are documents such as receipts, bank statements and invoices, which it says you may need to support an item on a return. A scanned copy that is legible and complete serves that purpose; the point is to be able to produce the document during the retention period.
What should I keep besides the return itself?
Whatever supports an item on it: income records such as W-2s, 1099s and bank statements; receipts, invoices and cancelled checks for deductions; the basis records for property; and for a business, the books, payroll records and the invoices behind the income. Keep each with the return it supports so the retention period is clear.