Record Retention Guide
Storing tax records: how long is long enough? Use this guide to decide what to keep, when to dispose, and how to protect sensitive financial information for both business and personal files.
Quick Reference
Minimum retention timelines for the most common record types.
Business Records
- 1 Year: Daily operational paperwork such as requisitions or receiving sheets
- 3 Years: Personnel files (post-termination), internal reports, insurance policies
- 6 Years: Ledgers, bank records, cancelled checks, payroll, invoices, tax records*
- Forever: Corporate documents, deeds, audit reports, tax returns, depreciation schedules
Personal Records
- 1 Year: Bank statements, paycheck stubs until reconciled with W-2s, canceled checks
- 3 Years: Credit card statements, utility bills, medical bills tied to insurance disputes
- 6 Years: Supporting documents for tax returns, major purchase receipts, wage garnishments*
- Forever: Copies of filed tax returns, legal records, CPA audit reports, IRA/pension records
*Keep records tied to bad debt deductions or worthless securities for at least seven years.
Create a Backup Set
Keeping a backup set of records—bank statements, tax returns, insurance policies—is easier than ever now that financial institutions issue digital statements. Even paper-only documents can be scanned and stored electronically. Download files to an encrypted external drive or create labeled archive folders on secure cloud storage. Online backups keep data in a different region so storms, fires, or other disasters do not wipe out your history.
Business Documents by Retention Period
Keep for 1 Year
- Correspondence with customers and vendors
- Duplicate deposit slips
- Purchase orders (non-purchasing department copies)
- Receiving sheets, requisitions, stockroom withdrawal forms
- Stenographer's notebooks
Keep for 3 Years
- Employee personnel records after termination and employment applications
- Expired insurance policies, general correspondence, internal audit reports
- Internal reports, petty cash vouchers, physical inventory tags
- Savings bond registration records of employees, time cards for hourly employees
Keep for 6 Years
- Accident reports and claims, A/P and A/R ledgers and schedules
- Bank statements, reconciliations, cancelled checks, cancelled stock/bond certificates
- Employment tax records, expense analyses, expired contracts, leases, option records
- Inventories, invoices, notes receivable ledgers, payroll records and summaries
- Plant cost ledgers, purchasing copies of POs, sales records, subsidiary ledgers, time books
- Travel and entertainment records, vouchers, voucher registers and schedules
*Records related to bad debt deductions or worthless securities should be retained for at least seven years.
Keep Forever
- Audit reports from CPAs/accountants
- Cancelled checks for significant or tax-related payments
- Cash books, charts of accounts, contracts and leases in effect
- Corporate formation documents, deeds, documents substantiating fixed asset additions
- Depreciation schedules, year-end financial statements, general/private ledgers
- Insurance records, investment trade confirmations, IRS revenue agent reports
- Journals, legal correspondence, minute books, mortgages and bills of sale
- Property appraisals/records, retirement and pension records, tax returns and worksheets, trademark and patent files
Personal Documents by Retention Period
Keep for 1 Year
- Bank statements
- Paycheck stubs until reconciled with annual W-2s
- Cancelled checks
- Monthly or quarterly mutual fund and retirement contribution statements (reconcile with year-end)
Keep for 3 Years
- Credit card statements
- Medical bills (for insurance questions or disputes)
- Utility records
- Expired insurance policies
Keep for 6 Years
- Supporting documentation for tax returns
- Accident reports and claims
- Tax-related medical bills, property records, and improvement receipts
- Sales receipts for major assets, wage garnishment notices, other tax-related bills
*Records tied to bad debt deductions or worthless securities should be held for seven years.
Keep Forever
- CPA audit reports, income tax returns, and proof of payment
- Legal records and important correspondence
- Investment trade confirmations
- Retirement and pension records
Special Circumstances
- Car records—retain until the vehicle is sold
- Credit card receipts—keep with the card statement
- Insurance policies—retain for the life of each policy
- Mortgages, deeds, leases—keep six years after the agreement ends
- Pay stubs—retain until reconciled with W-2
- Property records/improvement receipts—keep until property is sold
- Sales receipts—retain through the warranty period
- Stock and bond records—keep six years beyond the sale date
- Warranties and instructions—keep while the product is in use
- Other bills—retain until payment shows on the next statement
- Depreciation schedules/capital asset records—keep three years after the asset’s tax life ends
Need Assistance?
Have questions about what to keep or how to store it? Email info@taxcise.com or call (603) 377-6210 and we will guide you through the requirements.