Does the IRS Accept Digital Receipt Scans for Taxes?

As the time for filing taxes draws closer, a small bit of fear comes into the mind of small business owners.

Preparations for taxes may be laborious since it includes many stages. This involves rechecking the accounting records, reviewing the tax claims to ensure that the final figures are accurate, and sifting through the mounds of receipts they have been saving to hand over to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

If you are hoping to simplify this procedure by scanning your receipts, you may be wondering whether or not the Internal Revenue Service would accept your scanned receipts. Do scans of receipts have the same legal weight as the original paper versions when it comes to supporting tax write-offs?

The short answer to your concerns is, yes — the IRS has given its blessing to the use of scanned receipts. Since 1997, the Internal Revenue Service has recognized scanned and digital receipts as equivalent to paper receipts in terms of their status as legitimate tax records. The rule that allows digitally scanned receipts is called Revenue Proclamation 97-22.

However, to be valid, scanned receipts must fulfill several standards.

What criteria must be met for the IRS to accept a scanned receipt?

The Internal Revenue Service mandates that the following criteria be met by any digitized or scanned receipts to be considered valid:

• The scanned receipts and their respective originals are indistinguishable in every way.
• Every scanned receipt must have a high-level of legibility and readability.
• If the IRS conducts an audit, you are required to have the ability to submit physical copies of the scanned receipts.
• Scanned receipts must be kept in a safe location.

You are allowed to get rid of the original receipts if you can guarantee that your scanned receipts are properly preserved and backed up and if you can make hard copies from them in a manner that is legible and readable.

If you get audited, the IRS is legally required to accept electronically scanned forms of proof for your write-offs, including bank and credit card statements.

How do you scan your receipts easily?

Receipt Cat is the perfect solution for you if you seek a quick and uncomplicated method to scan your receipts.

With Receipt Cat, your can snap a photo or scan a receipt and upload it right into the app for safe keeping.

Receipt Cat will automatically extract critical data from your receipts, sort that data into categories. This will allow you to easily review and check your records whenever necessary.

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