Strategic Tax Planning – Record Keeping – LNK Tax Group

Good records will help you monitor the progress of your business, prepare your financial statements, identify sources of income, keep track of deductible expenses, keep track of your basis in property, prepare your tax returns, and support items reported on your tax returns.

You may choose any record keeping system suited to your business that clearly shows your income and expenses. Except in a few cases, the law does not require any special kind of records. However, the business you are in affects the type of records you need to keep for federal tax purposes.

The length of time you should keep a document depends on the action, expense, or event the document records. You must keep your records as long as needed to prove the income or deductions on a tax return.

Purchases, sales, payroll, and other transactions you have in your business generate supporting documents. These documents contain information you need to record in your books.

The responsibility to substantiate entries, deductions, and statements made on your tax returns is known as the burden of proof. You must be able to prove certain elements of expenses to deduct them.

Keep all records of employment taxes for at least four years.

Our thoughts:

If you have recently discovered that your tax return was selected for audit (examination), you may be worried right now. Quite often, you will want to have an experienced tax representative in California on your side to help represent you during this audit. Audits are not enjoyable, and you do not want to go into them alone, especially if there is a large omission or lack of records on your part. LNK Tax Group takes a firm and aggressive stance representing our clients!

Disclaimer: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any US federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and it cannot be used for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. Always seek advice based on your particular circumstances from an independent advisor.