Bill Receipts: How Long Should They Be Kept?

by admin in Uncategorized | Posted on September 6th, 2011

While it is nice to get rid of paperwork and clutter, there are some receipts you should keep for awhile. When you do decide to get rid of any papers with personal information on it, make sure you shred them to protect yourself from identity theft.

If you are using your credit or debit card it is recommend to keep the receipts until your monthly statement arrives in case there is an error in the billing. Once you have checked your statements you can toss the original receipts. It is advised to keep your receipts for anything you think you may need to return for some reason. Today many stores have shortened the period of time that they will accept returns so this shortens the period of time you need to keep receipts.

If you have investment accounts, it is suggested to keep records for them until you no longer own the investments.

It is recommended to retain your income tax returns and supporting documents for seven years. This would include credit card statements and receipts for items you itemized. Also, keep you bank statements for 2-3 years. Now with computers you can get past statements from many banks and other companies, so we do not need to keep as far back as we used to.

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