How long to keep receipts for HMRC
If you’re self-employed or let property, keep your receipts and records for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for that year’s return: for 2025–26, due by 31 January 2027, until at least 31 January 2032. A clear photo or scan can stand in for the paper.
Checked against GOV.UK by Cristiano Betta of Work Betta Ltd, which makes Tillslip, on : How long to keep your records, Compliance Handbook CH14530, Compliance Handbook CH13100.
| Tax year | Return due | Keep records until |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | 31 January 2025 | 31 January 2030 |
| 2024–25 | 31 January 2026 | 31 January 2031 |
| 2025–26 | 31 January 2027 | 31 January 2032 |
Landlords too
HMRC treats the letting of property like a trade for record keeping, so landlords keep their records for the same 5 years. If you’re not self-employed and don’t let property, it’s 22 months after the end of the tax year.
When you keep them longer
If HMRC opens an enquiry into a return, keep the records until it’s finished. If you send a return more than 4 years after its deadline, keep them for 15 months after you send it.
Is a photo of a receipt enough?
Yes, if the copy holds everything you need for a correct return and stays readable: then you don’t have to keep the paper. Get the whole receipt in the picture, with nothing cut off or blurred. A few records must be kept in their original form.
What to keep
Receipts for what you buy, invoices, bank statements and a mileage log. Landlords also keep rent books and a record of when each property was let.
If you lose a receipt
Do your best to work out the figure, and tell HMRC when you file whether it’s an estimate or a provisional figure you’ll correct later.
Tillslip keeps the photo
Snap a receipt and the photo stays with its date, total and tax box, on your phone and in your own Google Drive if you turn on backup.
Also: Landlord expenses · Mileage calculator · Mileage rates · SA105 box by box · Self-employed expenses · Landlord expenses spreadsheet