How long should cleared checks that are returned to me be held for record keeping purposes?
Untitled
The general rule of thumb is that the statute of limitations on a federal tax return is three years from the date a tax return is filed, or two years from the date tax is paid, whichever is later. That is how long you would want to keep checks that pertain to that.
You can carry that same general rule to any other party to which you feel you may need to show proof of payment. The choice is yours. Ask yourself this question, though, when is the last time you had to show someone a paid check? If it doesn't happen, save the storage space and the work if you don't want to mess with it. Check with your bank, but they have copies for some years and you can access that through internet banking, bill pay or just their retention documents. The latter may include a fee for them obtaining the retained copy.
BankingQuestions.com is a free service made possible by the generous support of our advertisers. Advertisers are not responsible for site content. Please help us keep BankingQuestions.com FREE by supporting our advertisers. When you see an ad for a product or service you may have an interest in, click through to learn more.
Accounts
Article
Q&A
Podcast
Video
Blog
Discussions
PDF
Powerpoint
The general rule of thumb is that the statute of limitations on a federal tax return is three years from the date a tax return is filed, or two years from the date tax is paid, whichever is later. That is how long you would want to keep checks that pertain to that.