You've filed the return, paid the tax, and now you're staring at a drawer full of receipts wondering when you can finally bin them. It's one of the most common questions we get, and the honest answer is: it depends on what kind of business you run.
There's no single rule. A sole trader keeps records for a different length of time than a limited company, and VAT and payroll records have their own clocks running. Get it wrong and HMRC can ask for paperwork you no longer have, which makes a routine compliance check a lot more stressful than it needs to be.
This guide gives you the exact retention periods, where they come from, and a simple decision table so you can sort your filing once and stop second-guessing it. It's written for UK sole traders, partnerships and limited companies, with figures for the 2025/26 tax year.
What's the quick answer?
If you only read one section, read this. The retention period depends on your business type and the kind of record. Here's the headline:
| Business type or record | Keep records for | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Sole trader / partnership / self-employed | At least 5 years | The 31 January Self Assessment deadline for that tax year |
| Limited company | At least 6 years | The end of the last company financial year the records relate to |
| VAT records (any VAT-registered business) | At least 6 years | The date of the record (or when accounts were prepared) |
| Payroll / PAYE records (employers) | At least 3 years | The end of the tax year they relate to |
These are minimums. In several situations you'll need to keep things for longer, and we cover those below. When the same record is caught by more than one rule, follow the longest period.
How long do sole traders and the self-employed keep records?
If you're a sole trader or in a partnership, HMRC requires you to keep your business records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year.
That wording trips people up, so let's be precise. The 5 years runs from the filing deadline, not from the end of the tax year and not from the day you actually filed. The online Self Assessment deadline is midnight on 31 January following the end of the tax year.
So for the 2024/25 tax year, the filing deadline was 31 January 2026, which means you keep those records until at least 31 January 2031.
There are two situations that extend or change this:
- If HMRC opens a compliance check into your return, keep everything until that check is fully resolved, even if the 5 years would otherwise have passed.
- If you file your return very late (more than 4 years after the deadline), the rule flips: you keep the records for 15 months after the date you actually sent the return.
If you run an unincorporated business, your record-keeping sits alongside your wider self-assessment obligations, and getting it right makes filing far quicker each January.
How long do limited companies keep records?
Limited companies have a longer minimum. You must keep your company and accounting records for at least 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to.
You'll need to keep them longer than 6 years if:
- A transaction covers more than one of the company's accounting periods.
- The company bought something it expects to last more than 6 years, such as equipment or machinery.
- You filed your Company Tax Return late.
- HMRC has started a compliance check into the return.
This is also a directors' duty, not just a tax housekeeping job. If a company fails to keep adequate accounting records, HMRC can charge a penalty of £3,000, and a director can be disqualified. So this is one to take seriously.
Limited company record-keeping ties directly into preparing your statutory accounts and your corporation tax return, so a tidy filing system pays off twice over.
How long do you keep VAT records?
If you're VAT-registered, you must keep your VAT records for at least 6 years. The same period applies whether you keep them on paper or digitally.
A couple of practical points:
- The VAT registration threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover for 2025/26, so once you cross that and register, the 6-year clock applies to all your VAT records.
- Under Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT, your digital VAT records must be kept in compatible software, but the retention period is still 6 years. If you later deregister from VAT, you no longer have to keep them in MTD software, but you still have to keep the underlying records for the full 6 years.
HMRC can allow some records to be kept for a shorter period if the 6-year rule causes you genuine storage problems or undue expense, but that's by exception and you'd need to contact VAT general enquiries to arrange it. Don't assume it; ask first.
How long do you keep payroll (PAYE) records?
If you employ people and run PAYE, you must keep your payroll records for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to. Your records have to show that you've reported pay, tax and National Insurance accurately.
Three years is the shortest of the main retention periods, but don't let that catch you out: if the same numbers feed into your company accounts or your VAT, the longer 6-year rule wins for those documents.
What records do you actually need to keep?
"Records" means more than just your bank statements. As a rough guide, keep anything that supports a figure on a tax return.
For most businesses that includes:
- All sales and income (invoices issued, till rolls, payment records).
- All business purchases and expenses, with receipts and invoices.
- Bank and credit card statements, and any loan or finance documents.
- VAT records and your VAT account, if you're registered.
- Payroll records, if you employ anyone.
- For companies: details of assets, debts the company owes and is owed, stock at year end, and statutory registers such as shareholders and directors.
The simplest rule of thumb in practice: if a number from a document ended up on a tax return or in your accounts, keep the document that backs it up for the relevant period above.
An illustrative example: when can you bin the 2024/25 paperwork?
Illustrative example. Meet Sam, a sole-trader graphic designer, and Northgate Design Ltd, a small limited company. Both want to know when they can clear out their 2024/25 records. (Names and figures are illustrative.)
Sam (sole trader):
- The 2024/25 tax year ended on 5 April 2025.
- The online filing deadline was 31 January 2026.
- Keep records for at least 5 years from that deadline.
- Safe to dispose: from 1 February 2031 (assuming no compliance check and the return wasn't filed years late).
Northgate Design Ltd (limited company):
- Say the company's financial year ended on 31 March 2025.
- Keep records for at least 6 years from the end of that financial year.
- Safe to dispose: from 1 April 2031 (assuming no late filing, no long-life assets and no open compliance check).
Notice that even though both relate to roughly the same trading period, the company holds its paperwork a year longer. When in doubt, default to the longer period. Storage is cheap; reconstructing lost records under an HMRC enquiry is not.
Can you keep records digitally?
Yes. HMRC is happy for you to keep records electronically, as long as they're complete, readable and you can produce them on request. Scanning paper receipts and storing them in good bookkeeping software is perfectly acceptable, and it solves the storage problem most businesses worry about.
This is becoming less optional over time. MTD for VAT already requires VAT-registered businesses to keep digital records in compatible software. MTD for Income Tax then starts to phase in from 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, so getting your records into a digital system now is a sensible move whether you're a sole trader or run a limited company.
What happens if you lose your records?
It happens. Fire, flood, a stolen laptop, a failed hard drive. If your records are lost, destroyed or stolen, the expectation is that you try to recreate them as accurately as you can.
For Self Assessment, you can use provisional or estimated figures on your return:
- Estimated figures are your best, final assessment where the real data is gone for good.
- Provisional figures are temporary, used while you wait for the actual numbers, and you must send the real figures once you have them.
If you're a limited company and your accounting records are lost, you should try to recreate them and tell your Corporation Tax office that it's happened. The key thing is to be upfront and to show you've made a genuine effort, rather than quietly guessing and hoping nobody asks.
Want help getting your record-keeping watertight so an HMRC check is a non-event? Take a look at our bookkeeping services and we'll set you up with a system that keeps the right things for the right length of time.
Frequently asked questions
How long do you have to keep business records in the UK?
It depends on your business type. Sole traders and partnerships keep records for at least 5 years after the 31 January Self Assessment deadline. Limited companies keep records for at least 6 years from the end of the relevant financial year. VAT records are kept for at least 6 years, and payroll (PAYE) records for 3 years from the end of the tax year.
Do I need to keep paper receipts or are scans enough?
Digital copies are fine. HMRC accepts electronic records as long as they're complete, accurate and you can produce them when asked. Scanning receipts into bookkeeping software is a common and accepted approach, and it removes the storage headache.
What happens if HMRC asks for records I've already destroyed?
If you destroyed records before the minimum retention period was up, you could face penalties, and you'd have to reconstruct the figures as best you can. If the records were lost through something like a fire or theft, you should recreate what you can, use provisional or estimated figures where needed, and tell HMRC what happened.
Does the 6-year company rule ever get longer?
Yes. Keep company records longer than 6 years if a transaction spans more than one accounting period, if you bought an asset expected to last more than 6 years, if you filed your Company Tax Return late, or if HMRC has opened a compliance check.
What's the penalty for not keeping proper records?
For a limited company that fails to keep adequate accounting records, HMRC can charge a penalty of £3,000 and a director can be disqualified. For all businesses, poor records also make it harder to prove your figures during a compliance check, which can lead to further adjustments and penalties.
