自己拍拍脑袋想当然是吧?别拿中国80年代的工资记录说事,那是一页纸可能有几十个人的工资信息。美国人一年的税表又有多少页?所占用的纸张、贮存空间相差了多少倍?照你的说法每个人的资料都放在一起,那是不是每个人都应该有一个贮存抽屉?全美交税的人有1亿6千万多。1亿6千万多抽屉是什么概念你知道吗?
随便在Quora搜到的。当然你可以选择不信。
How long does the IRS keep your tax records?
I worked for the IRS in the 1990s everything was stored on magnetic tape. I know that’s extremely outdated, even then, but that's what the manual says to do, and everything has to be done according to the manual. And it literally takes an acts of Congress to change the manual..
We only kept records going back 10 years. Or If the information is part of an ongoing investigation, they are kept for 10 years after the case is closed.
The window of our break room overlooked the loading dock. If my break was timed right, I used to watch as every Friday an armored truck marked “U.S. Army” arrived. 4 soldiers got out. 2 loaded boxes and 2 armed soldiers stod watch. They took away all our tapes and physical files that were 10 years old. They take them somewhere where things go in, but they don't come out. I was told noone is even allowed to enter, unless they are putting things in. Even then they are only given enough time to put things in and leave.
They used to tell us: “That file has already been sent to Yucca mountain” but I doubt that is the actual place they sent them