Question about IRS and electronic documents

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Subject Author Date Question about IRS and electronic documents Snanny Jones 08-16-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Bill 08-16-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Snanny Jones 08-16-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents D. Stussy 08-16-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents HLunsford 08-18-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents HLunsford 08-18-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Drew Edmundson 08-19-2009   Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Steve Pope 08-19-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Drew Edmundson 08-20-2009   Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Steve Pope 08-20-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Drew Edmundson 08-21-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Dan Lanciani 08-21-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Dan Lanciani 08-19-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents removeps-groups@yahoo.com 08-26-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Drew Edmundson 08-27-2009  Re: Question about IRS and electronic documents Drew Edmundson 08-16-2009
Posted by Snanny Jones on August 16, 2009, 1:20 am Please log in for more thread options Hi. I am curious about something and thought I'd ask it here. If I'm audited, will the IRS accept PDF files and scanned receipts or do I still need to have paper copies? My bank, credit card, and utilities all allow for electronic-only statements. I'd like to get rid of the clutter of paper documents entirely, or as much as possible. But it really depends on what the IRS allows. I'm not in any danger of being audited because I've been unemployed for over a year and before that I just had one job that didn't pay a lot of money. However, I just threw out a whole box of old receipts and statements that were very old and I'm hoping, from now on, that I can keep them electronically on my computer. Thanks in advance for your replies. -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Bill on August 16, 2009, 11:25 am Please log in for more thread options snanny@verizon.net (Snanny Jones) posted: >Hi. I am curious about something and thought >I'd ask it here. >If I'm audited, will the IRS accept PDF files >and scanned receipts or do I still need to have >paper copies? >My bank, credit card, and utilities all allow for >electronic-only statements. I'd like to get rid of >the clutter of paper documents entirely, or as >much as possible. But it really depends on >what the IRS allows. >I'm not in any danger of being audited >because I've been unemployed for over a year >and before that I just had one job that didn't >pay a lot of money. >However, I just threw out a whole box of old >receipts and statements that were very old >and I'm hoping, from now on, that I can keep >them electronically on my computer. One good clue is the fact that e-filing already permits electronic filing of Schedule D-1 materials for those who are active traders. But even if you're subjected to a "full field audit," unless they discover gross misbehavior, there is little likelihood that they would go back over your entire history; rather, they will be focusing on one particular year. Certainly, pdf e-files will be acceptable. There are always printers, if letter audits focus in on some specific item, you could print the page(s) that support your filing(s). Bill -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Snanny Jones on August 16, 2009, 4:49 pm Please log in for more thread options Bill, thanks! Part of why I was curious about electronic receipts is that they can easily be forged. It's easier to prove the authenticity of original, hard-copy receipts because they won't all use the same kind of paper, which print-outs would. But if they IRS doesn't care about that then that's great. -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by D. Stussy on August 16, 2009, 8:52 pm Please log in for more thread options > snanny@verizon.net (Snanny Jones) posted: > >Hi. I am curious about something and thought > >I'd ask it here. > > >If I'm audited, will the IRS accept PDF files > >and scanned receipts or do I still need to have > >paper copies? > > >My bank, credit card, and utilities all allow for > >electronic-only statements. I'd like to get rid of > >the clutter of paper documents entirely, or as > >much as possible. But it really depends on > >what the IRS allows. > > >I'm not in any danger of being audited > >because I've been unemployed for over a year > >and before that I just had one job that didn't > >pay a lot of money. > > >However, I just threw out a whole box of old > >receipts and statements that were very old > >and I'm hoping, from now on, that I can keep > >them electronically on my computer. > > One good clue is the fact that e-filing already > permits electronic filing of Schedule D-1 materials for those who are > active traders. > > But even if you're subjected to a "full field audit," unless they > discover gross misbehavior, there is little likelihood that they would > go back over your entire history; rather, they will be focusing on one > particular year. > > Certainly, pdf e-files will be acceptable. There are always printers, > if letter audits focus in on some specific item, you could print the > page(s) that support your filing(s). I'm not certain that's true. Back in the 1990's when I still worked for the service, it came out with several notices regarding electronic storage of documents, etc., but NEVER trained any of the audit staff that these things were permissible nor that these things weren't to be considered "altered documents." Considering often that the "right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing" still prevails at the IRS, don't be surprised if the audit gets thrown to appeals, unless the IRS is somehow able to verify your electronic documents with the third parties you did business with. -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by HLunsford on August 18, 2009, 1:43 pm Please log in for more thread options D. Stussy wrote: >> snanny@verizon.net (Snanny Jones) posted: >>> Hi. I am curious about something and thought >>> I'd ask it here. >>> If I'm audited, will the IRS accept PDF files >>> and scanned receipts or do I still need to have >>> paper copies? >>> My bank, credit card, and utilities all allow for >>> electronic-only statements. I'd like to get rid of >>> the clutter of paper documents entirely, or as >>> much as possible. But it really depends on >>> what the IRS allows. >>> I'm not in any danger of being audited >>> because I've been unemployed for over a year >>> and before that I just had one job that didn't >>> pay a lot of money. >>> However, I just threw out a whole box of old >>> receipts and statements that were very old >>> and I'm hoping, from now on, that I can keep >>> them electronically on my computer. >> One good clue is the fact that e-filing already >> permits electronic filing of Schedule D-1 materials for those who are >> active traders. >> >> But even if you're subjected to a "full field audit," unless they >> discover gross misbehavior, there is little likelihood that they would >> go back over your entire history; rather, they will be focusing on one >> particular year. >> >> Certainly, pdf e-files will be acceptable. There are always printers, >> if letter audits focus in on some specific item, you could print the >> page(s) that support your filing(s). > > I'm not certain that's true. Back in the 1990's when I still worked for > the service, it came out with several notices regarding electronic storage > of documents, etc., but NEVER trained any of the audit staff that these > things were permissible nor that these things weren't to be considered > "altered documents." Considering often that the "right hand doesn't know > what the left hand is doing" still prevails at the IRS, don't be surprised > if the audit gets thrown to appeals, unless the IRS is somehow able to > verify your electronic documents with the third parties you did business > with. > -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Similar Threads Posted Electronic payments October 4, 2008, 3:34 pm Electronic and Paper W4 December 4, 2008, 1:30 pm Electronic Filing via Turbotax March 3, 2009, 11:46 am Electronic Commerce and Multijurisdictional Taxation November 12, 2008, 11:08 pm Supporting Documents for determining FMV of Stocks? 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