This is general information about UK rules, checked on the date above. It is not legal advice, and rules change. For a decision that matters, check the sources below or ask a qualified adviser.
“How long do I have to keep these?” is one of the most common questions small business owners ask, and the answer depends on what kind of business you run. The same receipt may need to be kept for different periods by a sole trader and by a limited company.
The short version
| Who | Keep records for | Starts from |
|---|---|---|
| Sole trader | At least 5 years | The 31 January submission deadline for that tax year1 |
| Limited company | 6 years, sometimes longer | The end of the last company financial year they relate to2 |
| Employer, for payroll | 3 years | The end of the tax year they relate to3 |
If you are self-employed
You must keep records of your business income and expenses for your Self Assessment tax return.4 You must keep them for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline for the relevant tax year. HMRC’s example is that if you sent your 2022 to 2023 return online by 31 January 2024, you must keep your records until at least the end of January 2029.1
So the clock does not start when you get a receipt. A receipt from April 2022 could need to be kept for nearly seven years.
If you run a limited company
A company must keep records about the company itself, as well as financial and accounting records.2 Records must be kept for 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, or longer in certain cases, including:2
- where they show a transaction covering more than one accounting period
- where the company bought something it expects to last more than 6 years, like equipment or machinery
- where you sent your Company Tax Return late
- where HMRC has started a compliance check into your return
The company can be fined £3,000 by HMRC, or you can be disqualified as a director, if you do not keep accounting records.2
If you employ people
You must collect and keep payroll records, including what you pay employees, deductions, reports and payments to HMRC, and employee leave and sickness absences. You need to keep them for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to. If you do not keep full records, HMRC may estimate what you owe and charge a penalty of up to £3,000.3
Other staff records have their own rules. Holiday records must now be kept for 6 years, and right to work copies for 2 years after someone leaves. See our guide to employee records.
If your records are lost
It happens: floods, fires, stolen laptops. For a company, HMRC’s guidance says that if you cannot replace records after they were lost, stolen or destroyed, you must do your best to recreate them.2 There is a similar section for the self-employed.1 Recreating years of records is painful, so backups cost very little by comparison.
Going digital
Many businesses are moving away from paper, and from April 2026 some sole traders must keep digital records under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. The following are our practical suggestions, and they apply whichever system you use:
- Photograph or scan receipts when you get them. Thermal paper fades, sometimes within months.
- Use one folder structure, by tax year or financial year, and then by type.
- Keep at least one copy elsewhere. A file on a single laptop is not a backup.
- Test that you can restore it. A backup you have never tried may not work.
- Set a deletion date. Records containing personal data should not be kept forever, as we explain in our guide to UK GDPR for small businesses.
A simple annual routine
We suggest picking a quiet week each year, perhaps after your accounts are filed, and doing the following:
- Check last year’s records are complete and backed up.
- Delete what has passed its retention date and is not otherwise needed.
- Check any exceptions, such as equipment still in use or an open compliance check, before you delete anything.
- Note what you deleted, and when.
If you are unsure about a particular record, your accountant can advise. It is generally easier to justify having kept a tax record for a little too long than to explain why it has gone, but that does not extend to customers’ personal data, which needs its own justification.
From a pile of records to useful numbers
Records are a legal duty, but the same data can also tell you how your business is doing. Sales records can show which products sell best, and which sites are doing well or badly.
Our admin and sales dashboards bring those numbers onto one screen. They do not replace your accounting software or your accountant, but they make it far easier to act on the numbers during the year rather than after it has ended.
Sources
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GOV.UK, Business records if you’re self-employed: how long to keep your records, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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GOV.UK, Running a limited company: company and accounting records, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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GOV.UK, PAYE and payroll for employers: keeping records, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩ ↩2
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GOV.UK, Business records if you’re self-employed, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩
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