Photo by Jimmy Emerson at Flickr.com
Forever! That’s what I said. I realize that I’ve made posts about keeping your tax returns before and I’ve said ten years, or even less, but I’ve changed my mind. Keep your tax returns forever! Keep your W-2s also.
Why am I going all crazy about this? Because it seems the state of Missouri doesn’t care how old your old tax issues are. If they think you owe back taxes, there is no statute of limitations. Let me repeat that—NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS!
Over the past few months I’ve seen them go after people for back taxes from 2000, 1999, 1995, and my favorite: 1987. Yes, 1987, that’s 26 years ago. If you were asked to produce your tax returns from 26 years ago, could you? I couldn’t.
Here’s the thing—if Missouri believes that you have not filed, or that you perhaps filed but still owe, you’re going to need to provide some sort of proof of payment or filing. If you didn’t keep your tax returns, how can you prove it?
Here’s how it works: Let’s say you filed your federal taxes back in 2000 but for whatever reason your Missouri return was never received by the state. If you had a state tax liability of $1,000 back then, with penalties and interest added, you’d owe $1902 today (May 2013). That’s almost double your tax liability. But it’s not just the fact that your tax liability doubled—Missouri has no record of the withholding you paid. It’s quite possible that you already paid all of your taxes with your withholding, but since Missouri doesn’t track that information, they have no record that you already paid those taxes. Unless you’ve held onto your W2s from back then, you can’t prove you’ve already paid and Missouri is going to want their money.
So, I have officially changed my position. From now on, I say keep all of your tax returns and your W-2s forever. It’s okay if they are digital copies, but it’s absolutely essential that you retain those copies. Hopefully, you won’t need them. But if you do, you’ll be glad you’ve got ‘em.
Hi Kathleen,
I think you’re right. Many people just pay to get rid of the problem. I don’t know how it would hold up in court, but for most people the cost of going to court far outweighs the tax. It’s a tough choice.
I guess your are guilty until proven innocent. If the state of Missouri doesn’t keep a record of payments, how can they prove you didn’t pay? I am not an attorney, but wonder how these cases would hold up in court? I think most people are so intimidated that they just negotiate and pay.