How far behind is the IRS ?

I think they do that deliberately, hoping you have lost your records and can't fight whatever made up b.s. claim they have. Not to mention the compounded interest and penalties, that started back when whatever they are complaining about happened not from the date of notice. Just like ambulance chasing lawyers that wait until days before the statute of limitations is up to file a policy limits insurance claim from a fender bender that happened three years ago -hoping that the trucking company has no evidence to defend themselves and will settle for 20-30% of policy limits to avoid a trial.

 

If they are wrong, years. If you are wrong, minutes.

Yes, I'm a bit cynical.

 

for this very reason, when i was working, i saved my tax returns (and all receipts) for the past 20 years....no kidding.

screw that "only 3 years" BS..

now that i have been retired all these years, i only save the last 5 years.

but for anyone that owns a business..?? i really think saving them for a bit longer then recommended..one can always find storage space.

even if one has to buy another house.

 

They can go back 7 years. If they find something of interest, (I'm told) they can chase older documents for clarification.

 

IRS advice

1. Keep records indefinitely if you file a fraudulent return.

Found here:
how many years should i keep tax records - Search (bing.com)

 

Storage is cheap. A good scanner can upload everything digitally. Assumeing 1mb or so per scan well you can fit over a million photos on a 1tb external HDD. I just have a bunch of template folders i copy and rename the year of as well as a non paid program saved to the SSD that can read and print them if required for both linux and windows. Takes me about 15 minutes once a year to set up the file. Got catagorys for fuel, food, repairs, clothing, medical, firearms, ammo, tools, parts, truck supplies, tolls, taxes, lawyers, tickets ect. Also keep 2 backups. One in my bank SDB and one at home in fire and static proof boxes and then swap out the SSDs every year. Costs around $100 a year.

At the end of every day i feed my recipts to the scanner and upload them to the correct folder. Takes me 5 mins a day. I only keep physical copys for 3 years then burn them. Digital copys i plan to keep forever. And if i ever fill up a 1tb drive well....the 2TB SSDs are cheap. And they do make upto 120tb nowadays.....

Good luck auditing me without my burrying your ### in perfectly preserved copys.

 

The IRS likes to contact you nearly at the end of the 3 year "statue of limitations" so that the potential penalty & interest are maxed out. Thats how it worked with my case.

 

They love to wait and then charge for late fees and interest….but for some reason if you over paid you can’t charge them interest…wtf

 

3 Year IRS Audit Statute of Limitations
Most of the time, the IRS only has three years to audit you from the tax return due date.

Therefore, if you filed a tax return before April of the current tax year, the statute of limitations still does not begin until April 15 (or 17th or 18th depending on the year). For example, if David’s 2015 tax return is due on April 15, 2016, but David files the return on February 1, 2016 – the IRS still has until April 2019 to audit David — even though David filed before April 15.

If you filed a tax return after the due date, the IRS has three years from the day you filed late.

6 Year IRS Audit Statute of Limitations
Under certain circumstances such as having a significant amount of unreported income (or improper deductions which deflated the income significantly) or foreign income of more than $5000 that stems from a section 6038 asset – the statute is extended to six years.

In other words, the IRS gets to tack on an additional three years to audit you. Therefore, using the example above, the IRS would have an additional three years audit if it is determined that David had significant amount of unreported income or over embellished deductions.
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Good luck to you!!!!!! Glad I'm old, retired and don't deal with the IRS anymore except for my very simple "retired old man" return. Personally I thought it was a 3 years, 5 years or 7 years all depending on how the IRS feels about you. But a quick google search says 3yr or 6yr, It,s the Gov. they get to do what they want.