{"id":8985,"date":"2020-12-18T14:20:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T14:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/?p=8985"},"modified":"2025-09-05T16:08:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T15:08:56","slug":"do-you-need-to-keep-receipts-for-tax-purposes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/blog\/do-you-need-to-keep-receipts-for-tax-purposes\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you need to keep receipts for tax purposes?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Every self-employed person knows (or atleast should know) that they need to keep track of their invoices for when tax return time rolls around \u2013 but do you need to keep receipts for tax purposes as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether it\u2019s the coffee you bought for a client in Costa, the train you took to London for a meeting or the desk you bought for your home office so you don\u2019t have to keep working on the kitchen table, those receipts are important. They can all be expensed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Small businesses might find keeping hold of receipts very handy for personal as well as tax records; it\u2019s always a good idea to have an idea of your income and expenditure. <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/hmrc\/\">HMRC<\/a> can also ask to see your receipts if they decide to audit you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What receipts do I need to keep?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>HMRC recommends keeping receipts for all business expenses and sales. This includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Invoices<\/li><li>Bank statements<\/li><li>VAT records<\/li><li>Credit card statements<\/li><li>PAYE records for staff<\/li><li>Personal income takings&nbsp;<\/li><li>Expense receipts<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, if in doubt, keep it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tax in 10(ish) seconds - what are expenses?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H2yyiSfSdoE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do they have to be physical receipts?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>They don\u2019t! Whilst you can keep hold of physical receipts if you prefer, these days most will be digital anyway. Scanning any physical receipts so you have a digital copy is definitely recommended &#8211; just make sure whatever you choose to do, it\u2019s legible!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How long do I need to keep receipts for tax purposes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The rule of thumb is to keep receipts for five years if you\u2019re a sole trader (six years if you\u2019re a limited company). But in general, it\u2019s probably just best to just keep them indefinitely.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A backed-up hard drive will be your best friend and is much more reliable than overflowing folders shoved in a cupboard somewhere (speaking from experience!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bear in mind that HMRC can launch a tax investigation for any return over the previous 20 years if they suspect any tax avoidance has gone on. So if you\u2019ve ever filed your tax returns later, been investigated in the past or are currently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/tax-compliance-checks\">being investigated<\/a>, don\u2019t throw anything away!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do I need receipts to claim expenses?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Actually, no. You don\u2019t need your receipts to submit for expenses. But you need to have them ready to go in case HMRC asks for them which is why we\u2019d recommend holding on to them. It is also probably easier than remembering the time and value of purchase. But luckily, a bank statement may step in as proof if you do misplace a receipt you eventually end up needing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Um, I may have lost my receipts&#8230;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, don\u2019t panic! It happens to the best of us. But you should let HMRC know straight away. It\u2019s better to let them know beforehand as if they suddenly ask you to show receipts for an investigation, it could get pretty awkward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can provide estimates within your Self Assessment tax return if your receipts are lost or damaged, but you have to provide information on why you are estimating parts of your return. It\u2019s best to discuss this with your accountant to make sure you estimate correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So, do you need to keep receipts for tax purposes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep everything. And back it up. Twice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s better to be safe than sorry, and better to be over prepared than underprepared when submitting your tax return.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Help! I\u2019m still not sure!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No need to panic, Taxfix can help you to understand what you can and can\u2019t expense and guide you through the whole tax return process.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Should HM Revenue and Customs come calling for an investigation, you\u2019ll already have all of your receipts ready to go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every self-employed person knows (or atleast should know) that they need to keep track of their invoices for when tax return time rolls around \u2013 but do you need to keep receipts for tax purposes as well? Whether it\u2019s the coffee you bought for a client in Costa, the train you took to London for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":41450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[299,301],"tags":[413,356,102],"class_list":["post-8985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-tax-basics","tag-accounting","tag-expenses","tag-hmrc"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do you need to keep receipts for tax purposes? &#8211; Taxfix (formerly Taxscouts)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you&#039;re self-employed, you know its important to keep track of invoices for tax purposes, but do you also need to retain receipts?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/blog\/do-you-need-to-keep-receipts-for-tax-purposes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do you need to keep receipts for tax purposes? 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