How Many Years Should I Store My Accounts For?

[Foresty_Forest]

I've got about 25 years of accounts, receipts and other misc files stored in the attic. I quite like keeping them as an archive but how long should I realistically be keeping my records. If, for instance, the IR wanted to look over my accounts, how far back would they actually go?

 

[cjd]

Six years plus one is the usual recommendation. Otherwise as long as you want.

 

[Kerwin]

The fact you called them the IR tells me you are probably safe to get rid of them .

 

[eteb3]

In the unlikely event that you have specialty debts / credits (ie, under a contract signed as a deed - indemnities and land transactions spring to mind) the limitation period for suing on those is 12 years rather than the usual 6.

No idea if that would make a difference for tax purposes, though.

If you employed anyone, then in very rare cases (abuse claims, asbestos stuff, etc) records have to be kept indefinitely.

 

[Marcus A. Wright]

Probably easier to ignore them and pretend they are not there than sort through them all ?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

HMRC explain how long records should be kept here

 

[pentel]

HMRC explain how long records should be kept here

Tax records are one aspect. in amongst the paperwork may be contracts for things like phones, waste disposal, leases for bits of equipment, health and safety records, employee records, insurance policies and many other things, all of which need to be kept for different lengths of time.

An example would be where an ex employee makes a claim 15 - 20 years after leaving your employment. If you don't know who your insurer was at that time and have disposed of your H& S records you are on your own defending the claim.

If you have both insurance details and H&S records you pass them over to the insurer and they deal with it for you. Most of the time the claim goes no further...

 

[Customs Geek]

The fact you called them the IR tells me you are probably safe to get rid of them .

Fyi it’s not been the Inland Revenue since 2005?