I am a senior citizen holding Income Tax records for 40 years. Am I supposed to keep them forever?

financialexpress.com:

A.R. Ramasubramaniam retired from job 20 years back and is currently living in a 500 sqft apartment in Pune. He has been keeping Income Tax Return papers and records, including documents related to his wife, mother and in-laws, for the last 40 years. As these documents are gathering dust and slowly falling apart in his tiny apartment, Ramasubramaniam shared with us his concern: “Am I to preserve all this forever?”

In an email sent to FE Money, Ramasubramaniam asked whether it is allowed to get rid of tax records if they are older than a specific number of years.

Ramasubramaniam is not alone in keeping old ITR records. Early this month, Jag Mohan Soni, a Delhi resident, also shared with us that he has been keeping old tax documents that go back to 2008-09. Soni feels he is unnecessarily holding the old tax papers but wants clarity on what the law says about old tax records.

Such is the fear of income tax that honest taxpayers go to any length to ensure their integrity is never questioned by authorities. Be it Ramasubramaniam in Pune or Jag Mohan in Delhi, there are probably many more elderly taxpayers who have been holding on to their ITR papers for decades. FE Money talked to several tax and legal experts to explain what the rules say regarding old tax records. Read on to know what they said:

As per the Income Tax Act 1961, there is no such provision as to for how many years, ITR fillers should keep their old ITR documents. However, in terms of Section 149 of the Income Tax Act, the Income Tax department can issue notice for up to 10 years period in case of income escaping assessment. For example, if an individual has filled his ITR in FY 2023-2024, then he/she must retain the ITR documents for the next 10 years i.e., FY