Time for a Tax Bonfire

Although April 15 gets all the press as the tax return due date, Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) of Jack Bog's Blog fame reminds us that it also marks the close of the 3-year statute of limitations.  So if you have not heard from the IRS by May 1, and you have not committed fraud or substantially understated your income, you are off the hook for your 2001 tax return and are free to shred your 2001 tax information:

[W]hen the end of April rolls around, if you haven't heard from the revenuers about the fourth year back (in this case, 2001), their chance to audit you for that year has now most likely gone away. Congratulations!

Monday night is garbage night in my neck of the woods, and I just got done with my annual ritual marking the passage of the tax audit year. I shredded all my tax information and other receipts for 2001, and moved my 2001 tax returns to my permanent tax return folder. (It generally pays to keep the returns forever -- you never know when you might be called upon to prove what you made, or paid, or declared. And surprisingly, the IRS doesn't keep such information where you can get it, at least not for long.)