Can I Get Copies of My Past Income Tax Forms (and Save Money)?

Are you looking for copies of past income tax forms?

Copies of past income tax forms are one of the most valuable and most overlooked financial documents out there. While bank statements, student loan debt payment records, and saving accounts can show you how much money you have, your past tax returns create a financial record that shows where your money has been and how you earned it. Not only that, but they can help you save up to 20 percent on home mortgages, car loans, and more!

How can copies of your past income tax forms accomplish all that? Here’s how:

Pay stubs are useful for hanging on to for at least a year because they show a record of what you made. Likewise, receipts should be held onto until you get a bank statement showing those expenses, because they show you how much you’re losing. Copies of your past income tax forms, however, show both expenses and income for the whole of the last year. They are a nearly complete financial record.

Because they are so complete, they are extremely valuable to people who give out money professionally, like banks. When banks can see where your money went, where it’s coming from, and how accurately the government is gauging your taxes (which includes net worth), they can get a better sense of how much of a risk you actually are.

Risk, after all, is what keeps people from loaning money to you.

Unfortunately, oftentimes when you look your financial worst is when you need money the most. If you’re going through a hard financial time, you’re less likely to be given the tools you need to get out of it. However, copies of past income tax forms can minimize the effects of your temporary financial hardship. They show a clear financial record that documents your average income, your business expenditures, and even what you were making a few years ago. Copies of past income tax forms can help establish how unrisky you are–and help you get the loan you need!

Copies of past income tax forms are also invaluable negotiation tools if you already have good credit and little risk associated with you. Using those old forms, you can show how reliable you are–and help knock down the prince!

So hang onto your past tax forms, because you never know when they’ll come in handy!

Photo via pasukaru76 on Flickr.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Taxes for Prior Years. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.