How Long Do I Need to Keep Receipts for HMRC?

The Accounted Business Team·22 January 2026·7 min read

You have finally done your tax return, so you can throw away all those receipts now, right? Not quite. HMRC requires you to keep your business records for a set period after you file. If they ask to see your records and you have binned them, you could face a penalty of up to £3,000.

This guide covers exactly how long you need to keep your receipts and records, depending on your business type.

The Quick Answer

| Business Type | How Long to Keep Records | |--------------|-------------------------| | Sole trader (Self Assessment) | 5 years after the 31 January deadline | | VAT-registered business | 6 years | | Limited company | 6 years from the end of the financial year | | CIS subcontractor | 5 years after the 31 January deadline |

Let us break each one down so you know exactly what dates you are working with.

Sole Traders: 5 Years After the Filing Deadline

If you are a sole trader filing Self Assessment, you must keep your records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline for that tax year.

Here is how that works in practice:

Tax year: 2024/25 (6 April 2024 to 5 April 2025)
Filing deadline: 31 January 2026
Keep records until: 31 January 2031

That means receipts for expenses you claimed in the 2024/25 tax year need to be kept until January 2031. That is a long time, which is why paper receipts are a terrible system — they fade, get lost, and take up space.

What If You File Late?

If you file your return late, the clock starts from the date you actually filed, not the original deadline. So filing late not only costs you penalties — it also extends how long you need to keep your paperwork.

VAT-Registered Businesses: 6 Years

If you are VAT registered, you must keep your VAT records for 6 years. This is longer than the general Self Assessment requirement, and the records HMRC expects are more detailed.

You need to keep:

All sales and purchase invoices
VAT account records showing how you calculated each return
Records of any goods or services you imported or exported
Credit notes and debit notes
Evidence of any adjustments or corrections

Under Making Tax Digital (MTD), your digital records must also be maintained in compatible software. If you use spreadsheets linked to bridging software, keep the spreadsheets too.

What Counts as a VAT Invoice?

A valid VAT invoice must include the supplier's VAT registration number, the date, a description of the goods or services, and the VAT amount. If you are claiming back VAT on a purchase and the invoice does not include these details, HMRC can refuse the claim. So it is worth checking your invoices when you receive them, not six months later.

Limited Companies: 6 Years

Limited companies must keep accounting records for at least 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to. This covers:

All money received and spent by the company
Details of assets owned by the company
Debts the company owes or is owed
Stock held at the end of each financial year
All goods bought and sold, and who you bought from or sold to

Directors who fail to keep adequate records can be fined and, in serious cases, disqualified.

What Records Do You Need to Keep?

HMRC does not just mean receipts. "Records" covers a much wider range of documents:

Income Records

Sales invoices you have issued
Bank statements showing money received
Till rolls or records of cash sales
Records of any other income (interest, rental income, etc.)

Expense Records

Purchase invoices and receipts
Bank and credit card statements
Petty cash records
Mileage logs (if you claim vehicle expenses)

Other Records

Bank statements for all business accounts
Pay records if you have employees
VAT records if you are VAT registered
CIS deduction statements if you work in construction
Records of any assets you bought or sold

Do Receipts Have to Be Paper?

No. HMRC accepts digital copies of receipts and records. You can scan or photograph your paper receipts and keep them digitally, provided the digital copy is clear and legible. You do not need to keep the paper original once you have a good digital copy.

This is important because thermal paper receipts — the kind you get from most shops and petrol stations — fade over time. A receipt that is perfectly clear today could be blank in two years. Scanning it straight away means you have a permanent record.

HMRC's Rules for Digital Records

HMRC says digital records must be:

Legible — you can read all the details clearly
Accurate — they match the original document
Complete — nothing has been cropped out or omitted
Accessible — you can produce them if HMRC asks

A photo taken on your phone counts, as long as it meets those criteria. You do not need specialist scanning equipment.

What Happens If You Cannot Produce Records?

If HMRC asks to see your records and you cannot produce them, several things can happen:

Estimated Assessment

HMRC can estimate your income and tax bill based on whatever information they do have. These estimates tend not to be generous. If you cannot prove what you actually earned and spent, HMRC will assume the worst.

Penalties

You can be fined up to £3,000 for failing to keep adequate records. In practice, first-time penalties for individuals tend to be lower, but the power is there.

Disallowed Expenses

If you claimed expenses on your tax return but cannot provide evidence for them, HMRC can disallow those claims. This means you owe more tax, plus interest, plus potential penalties for an inaccurate return.

How to Make Record Keeping Easy

The best approach is to capture receipts as you get them, not in a frantic session the night before your tax return is due.

Here are some practical tips:

Go Digital From Day One

Stop keeping paper receipts in a drawer, shoebox, or (worst of all) your van dashboard. Photograph or scan them immediately and store them digitally. Paper fades, gets lost, and gets damaged. Digital does not.

Use Dedicated Software

Bookkeeping software that stores receipts alongside your accounts makes everything simpler. When HMRC asks for the receipt for a specific expense, you can find it in seconds instead of rummaging through boxes.

Accounted makes this particularly easy. You can photograph receipts and send them to Penny via WhatsApp. Penny reads the receipt, extracts the details, and stores it against the right transaction. Every receipt is stored permanently in the cloud, so you never have to worry about retention periods — your records are always there when you need them.

Match Receipts to Transactions

A receipt on its own is useful. A receipt matched to a bank transaction and categorised correctly is bulletproof. If HMRC ever queries an expense, you can show them the receipt, the bank statement entry, and the category — all in one place.

Keep Personal and Business Separate

If you use one bank account for everything, it becomes much harder to prove which expenses were business and which were personal. A separate business bank account makes record keeping dramatically simpler.

Common Questions

Can I Throw Away Receipts Once My Tax Return Is Accepted?

No. HMRC can open an enquiry into your return for up to 12 months after filing, or longer if they suspect fraud. You need to keep your records for the full retention period regardless of whether your return has been accepted.

What About Bank Statements?

Your bank will usually let you download statements going back several years, but do not rely on this. Banks can change their systems, and you might lose access to old accounts. Download or print your statements and store them as part of your records.

Do I Need to Keep Records for Cash Payments?

Yes. Cash transactions need the same level of evidence as card payments. If you pay a supplier in cash, get a receipt. If a customer pays you in cash, record it in your accounts. HMRC pays particular attention to cash businesses.

A Simple Rule to Follow

If in doubt, keep it. Storage is cheap — a penalty is not. The safest approach is to digitise everything and store it indefinitely. That way you never have to wonder whether you still need a particular receipt.

Accounted stores all your receipts, invoices, and records permanently in the cloud. Penny organises them, matches them to transactions, and keeps everything ready in case HMRC ever comes knocking. Start your free trial and never worry about lost receipts again.

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