How long to keep receipts and tax records

The IRS period of limitations, in full

The number most people know is three years. It is the first row of a seven-row table, and at least two of the others are more useful than the famous one.

Keep for	When it applies
3 years	The general rule for most returns.
3 years / 2 years	For a credit or refund claim: three years from filing, or two years from paying the tax, whichever is later.
7 years	For a claim from a worthless security or a bad debt deduction.
6 years	If you under-reported income by more than 25% of the gross income shown on the return.
4 years	Employment tax records, after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later.
No limit	If you did not file a return.
No limit	If you filed a fraudulent return.

Source: IRS — How long should I keep records?

Property is the one that catches people

The IRS instruction is to keep records relating to property until the period of limitations expires for the year in which you dispose of it. In practice that means the closing documents from a house bought in 2010 are still live records today. So are the receipts for the work you did on it, because they change the cost basis.

Canada is six years, not three

The CRA rule is simpler and longer: keep records and supporting documents for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. For individuals the tax year is the calendar year. Records covering the acquisition and disposal of property, the share registry, or anything affecting a later sale or wind-up must be kept indefinitely.

The instruction that surprises people: “This applies even when you filed your tax return online, and even when the form says you do not have to attach your supporting documents.” Filing electronically does not discharge the retention obligation.

Source: CRA — How long to keep your income tax records

Thermal receipts do not last three years

Most retail receipts are thermal paper: the image is produced by heating a coating rather than by applying ink. That coating keeps reacting to heat and light after you file it. A receipt left in a warm drawer or a car glovebox can fade to nothing well inside the three-year window you are meant to be keeping it for.

There is no fixing a blank receipt. The only reliable answer is to photograph it while it is still legible — which is the whole argument for scanning the week it arrives rather than the week before you file.

When the documents are already gone

The IRS publishes the recovery path, and it is slower than people expect: request copies from your employer or bank, use Get Transcript Online, or file Form 4506-T for a wage and income transcript. The IRS notes that written transcript requests using Form 4506-T “can take several weeks.” That delay is the real cost of not keeping a copy.

This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Deadlines and retention rules change; check the linked source before you rely on a date.