How long to keep receipts if you’re self-employed

The public IRS rule of thumb

The IRS page “How long should I keep records?” is the source, not this paragraph. In ordinary cases they go back three years from the date you filed. Six years if you left off a substantial amount of income. Seven years for some bad-debt and loss claims. If you never filed, they are not on a clock. Employment-tax records they often want at least four years.

Keep the receipt that supports the number: who you paid, the date, the amount, what it was for. A spreadsheet is not a substitute for the slip. IRS: How long should I keep records and Publication 583.

How to organize receipts for Schedule C

Photograph the thermal the day you get it. By April it is often a grey smudge. One pile: phone photos, emailed PDFs, a county property-tax bill. One spreadsheet: date, vendor, total, category. Meals, groceries, gas, travel, office, medical, other. That is what the accountant can use. They do not want IMG_4812.JPG × 200.

DropSheet writes those columns and a By category sheet in Excel. It does not e-file. It does not replace the originals. Tax receipts in a spreadsheet is the Schedule C page.

What to do this week, not in April

Shoot the slip before it fades. Drop the year’s pile when you have an afternoon. Type a total if the photo is muddy. Export Excel. Keep the photos in a folder named for the year for as long as your accountant says. Files stay on this computer. Nothing uploaded.