You’ve handed over your paperwork, signed the return, and filed your taxes—whew! But before you stuff everything in a drawer (or trash can), let’s talk about what documents you actually need to keep after tax season.

Key Takeaways:

• Keep the full packet of documents you gave your tax preparer for at least three years.
• Hold onto the actual tax returns (just the returns themselves) for six years.
• The IRS accepts digital copies—scanning and storing documents securely can save you filing cabinet space.
• Use cloud storage or an external hard drive to make sure your records are safe from computer crashes.

What the IRS Wants You to Keep

Let’s break it down:

• The IRS generally has three years to audit your return or for you to amend it. That means you should keep all related paperwork for at least that long.
• However, in some cases (like if they believe you underreported income), the IRS can go back up to six years. That’s why I recommend keeping the return itself for a full six years.

So if you’ve been holding onto old folders from the 90s (like my mom did—bless her), it’s safe to let most of those go.

Go Digital—Seriously

You don’t have to keep a mountain of paperwork. The IRS now accepts digital copies of your tax documents. That means you can:

• Scan and save them to your computer.
• Back them up on an external hard drive.
• Or use a secure cloud service to keep everything organized and accessible—even if your laptop bites the dust.

Bottom Line

You don’t need to keep tax documents forever, but you do need a system. Three years for supporting documents, six years for the returns—and if you scan and store everything digitally, your future self will thank you.