Take it from someone who has a hoard of legal accordion files stashed away in a hope chest: It’s a good idea to keep your tax records. However, if you’re going through a phase of trying to get rid of everything, the IRS is (sort of) clear on how many years to keep the paper trail. How Long To Keep Your Tax Records Let’s go in descending order: Forever: If you never filed a return, or if you filed a fraudulent return (neither of which is recommended) 7 years: If you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities...
