What to Keep and What to Toss

The following link from Consumer Reports offers a good overview and summary table on basic record keeping and what to keep and what to toss –

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/personal-investing/conquer-the-paper-piles/where-to-keep-when-to-toss-documents/index.htm

IRS Publication 552 offers a fairly concise description of the manner and types of records individuals should keep for their tax returns –

www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p552.pdf

IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records is a clear consise referral source for those contemplating, starting and running a business –

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p583.pdf

I don’t think I will ever be able to toss out a personal or business tax return even if the often suggested 7 seven year time-frame has passed.  For those who can, you may want to consider plucking your old W-2s and filing those away which the IRS recommends keeping until you start collecting Social Security.

The IRS also recommends keeping the following forms for all years until all distribtuions are made from your IRA(s)  – Form 5498 IRA Contribution Information, Form 1099-R Distributions from Pensions and IRAs, etc, and Form 8606, Nondeductible IRAs.  Parsing these forms and filing them from older tax returns before tosing them is likely a good idea.