You know what frosts my flakes?
Receipts printed on thermal paper.
It used to be when a business handed you a receipt, you could actually KEEP the receipt.
You could toss it into a folder, stick it in a filing cabinet and pull it out years later. And here’s the amazing part: You could still READ IT!
Not anymore.
Now businesses print receipts on that flimsy thermal paper that’s apparently designed to self-destruct.
You buy something today, put the receipt in a drawer and six months later pull out what looks like a blank piece of paper.
Where did the receipt go?
Or, even better, the paper turns completely black so it looks like you bought something during a house fire.
Here’s what really makes no sense.
The IRS expects people to keep documentation supporting their tax returns for years. In some situations, that can mean keeping records for up to seven years.
SEVEN YEARS?!
The receipt from the hardware store can’t survive to the date the product could be returned, if I wanted to!
Apparently, I’m supposed to preserve every business receipt in a temperature-controlled, humidity-regulated, light-proof underground vault.
Maybe that’s the government’s end game.
Just wait several years before auditing somebody.
“Mr. Grumpy, we need documentation for this $1,200 business expense from 2022.”
“No problem. I’ve got the receipt right here.”
Then you proudly pull out a blank piece of paper!
“Sorry, Mr. Grumpy. We can’t accept that.”
Of course you can’t. The evidence evaporated!
“So, here’s your revised bill for the overdue tax plus interest and substantial penalty.”
I’m Grandpa Grumpy, and if the government expects me to keep receipts for seven years, businesses need to print them on something that lasts longer than a banana!