Duluth/Atlanta CPA: How Long Should I Save my Tax Documents?

A corporation should keep its records for as long back as the IRS may need to look back upon them. The average time for a corporation to keep a record that refers to somewhat of an item of income, deduction, or credit for a return is 3 years from when the shareholder turns in or files the report. I recommend all returns for at least ten years, but shredding the underlying documents four years after the filing date of the returns. Records that pertain to the company's property basis should be kept as long as necessary so that the corporation can figure out the original basis and or the need for replacement property such as for fixed assets, buildings, land, leasehold improvements etc.

Corporations will want keep copies of filed returns as they well help when the corporation is making plans for the upcoming future returns and dealing with past returns.

Can I Round Dollars on My Tax Return?

Corporations are allowed to round off to whole dollars for their submitted returns and schedules. The rounding of whole dollars is something that must follow throughout the whole return or schedule. If whole dollars are rounded in one part they must be rounded in all parts. The proper way to round is to drop amounts that equate to lower than 50 cents and to raise amounts that exceed 50 cents. Take for example, $1.12 becomes $1.00, while $1.52 becomes $2.00.

If there is more than one amount to be added into a line, add the numbers without rounding. Once you have found the sum of those numbers, then round to the nearest dollar. Once again, the total should be rounded, not the numbers being added.