George V. Marino, CPA, PC

If the IRS audits your income tax return, you may need to produce documentation. In general, the IRS has three years to assess additional tax, starting from the date the return was filed or due, whichever is later. For example, if you filed your 2022 return by the April 18 deadline in 2023, the IRS generally has until April 18, 2026, to assess a tax deficiency. So you potentially can discard records related to that return after April 2026. But records should be held longer in certain situations. And you should keep copies of your returns forever. Call us at (212) 714-3561 with questions.

If you’d like to arrange for a transfer of wealth through multiple generations, consider a dynasty trust. Assets are taxed just once, when they’re initially transferred to the trust. There’s no estate or generation-skipping transfer tax due on any subsequent appreciation in value. A drawback is that the trust is irrevocable. This means it generally can never be revised. Call us at (212) 714-3561 for more details.