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IRS Free File IRS TAX TIP 2012-71: Managing Your Tax Records After You Have Filed
Keeping good records after you file your taxes is a good idea, as they will help you with documentation and substantiation if the IRS selects your return for an audit. Here are five tips from the IRS about keeping good records.
- Normally, tax records should be kept for three years.
- Some documents – such as records relating to a home purchase or sale, stock transactions, IRA and business or rental property – should be kept longer.
- In most cases, the IRS does not require you to keep records in any special manner. Generally speaking, however, you should keep any and all documents that may have an impact on your federal tax return.
- Records you should keep include bills, credit card and other receipts, invoices, mileage logs, canceled, imaged or substitute checks, proofs of payment, and any other records to support deductions or credits you claim on your return.
- For more information on what kinds of records to keep, see IRS Publication 552, Recordkeeping for Individuals.
Basis. The basis of an asset is its cost, including shipping, installation, taxes, and fees. For example, if you buy a home, the basis of the home is the amount you paid for it (including down payment and loan). If you buy a computer, its basis is the amount you paid for the computer, tax, and shipping. If you buy an extended warranty on the computer, it is not part of the basis, but that's a discussion for another day.
Adjusted Basis. The adjusted basis of an asset is its cost, plus improvements, minus reductions in value. Improvements include such items as adding a new room to a house, putting on a new roof, converting a basement, or putting in new wall-to-wall carpet. Reductions in value include removals from the asset (for example, a standalone garage may degrade to the point it needs to be torn down).
For assets used in a business, adjusted basis includes
depreciation, a calculated loss of value over the years due to wear-and-tear on the asset. The IRS prescribes the depreciation amounts that are used to calculate this loss in value.
Adjusted basis is used to determine capital gains and losses, which directly affects the amount of tax that you pay when an asset is sold. See our
white paper on basis for more information.