Each year, you’ll probably have a lot of paperwork by the time you complete and submit your tax return – all your expenses, income statements, even down to small receipts for parking and possibly buying a pack of stamps several years ago! So how long do you need to keep records for?
At the end of the year, it is good practice to file all records into a folder and store somewhere safe. You are required by HMRC to keep your records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline for that tax year, therefore you may end up with a lot of files to keep everything safe and secure!
An example of the timescale is below:
Hannah submitted her 2022/23 tax return online by the 31 January 2024 deadline. She must keep the records until at least the end of January 2029.
And here is a simple table for the past few years:
| Tax Year | Online Submission Deadline | Keep Records Until |
|---|---|---|
| 2015/16 | 31 January 2017 | End of January 2022 |
| 2016/17 | 31 January 2018 | End of January 2023 |
| 2017/18 | 31 January 2019 | End of January 2024 |
| 2018/19 | 31 January 2020 | End of January 2025 |
| 2019/20 | 31 January 2021 | End of January 2026 |
| 2020/21 | 31 January 2022 | End of January 2027 |
| 2021/22 | 31 January 2023 | End of January 2028 |
| 2022/23 | 31 January 2024 | End of January 2029 |
| 2023/24 | 31 January 2023 | End of January 2030 |
| 2024/25 | 31 January 2024 | End of January 2031 |