Retained tax returns

This answer may not be complete, but

let you request copies of three years' prior returns. Don't know how long after that before they destroy the records.On the other hand, the Social Security office has a full record of your earnings, going back to your first on the books job.Joe

Form 4506 (not 4506-T) says "Copies of Forms 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ are generally available for 7 years from filing before they are destroyed by law."

Bob Sandler

I think the federal records destruction guidelines state that a return may be purged 6 years after the last action taken.

If nothing ever happens (i.e. filed, full-paid, and not amended), that means 6 years from filing.

I think that this is in the IRM somewhere. I remember seeing such for other documents like those for administrative actions like Form 23 - applying to be an EA, kept for 5 years if granted, and a little longer when denied.

The last time I looked into this was the mid-1990s. It's also possible that the guidelines have changed since.

Yes, Bob set me straight. I grabbed the wrong form to base my initial thought.