A recent watchdog report claims that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is unable to locate thousands of records that were kept at a facility in Utah, in addition to thousands of microfilm cartridges that contain millions of sensitive individual and business tax account records that were supposed to be transferred from a closed agency facility in California.

A report released Thursday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) stated in that it found significant short comings in safeguarding and accounting for millions of tax records that contained sensitive taxpayer information as part of a review of the IRS’ required storage of old tax records in microfilm backup cartridges.

One of the most asked question that I get at the tax desk is how long should I keep my tax returns. You've probably heard that seven years is the perfect period to hold onto your tax returns. However, the actual time to keep records isn't quite that simple. You probably don't need to keep every little piece of paper, because different records require different holding times. Let's take a look at some of them.

What to keep

If you lost your job last year and received unemployment benefits from the government, be sure to keep your 1099-G form, which reports the amount you have received. There is a misunderstanding by a lot of people that this is not taxable, but you will owe federal income taxes on the entire amount. 

Many people work for a family member, whether it's a child helping out at their parent's shop or spouses running a business together. When someone is employed by a family member, the tax implications depend on the relationship and the type of business. It's important for taxpayers and employers to understand their tax situation.

Charitable remainder trusts are irrevocable trusts that let you donate assets to charity and draw annual income for life or for a specific time period.

We closely examine charitable remainder trusts to ensure they:

• Correctly report trust income and distributions to beneficiaries
• File all required tax documents
• Follow all applicable tax laws and rules

How a Charitable Remainder Trust Works

In a charitable remainder trust:

Crowdfunding is a method of raising money through websites by soliciting contributions from a large number of people. The contributions may be solicited to fund businesses, for charitable donations, or for gifts. In some cases, the money raised through crowdfunding is solicited by crowdfunding organizers on behalf of other people or businesses. In other cases, people establish crowdfunding campaigns to raise money for themselves or their businesses.