How long do you have to keep tax documents?

You have probably heard that there are retention requirements for tax documents.

As an income tax payer, you do not need to keep anything

• If you are an employee or a pensioner, you do not need to take any retention periods or record-keeping requirements into account. In theory, you can throw everything away right away. However, you must include your business expenses and other expenses in your income tax return Tax office make believable.
• If the tax office requests documents or receipts from you in case of doubt, you must present them as evidence. However, if you have disposed of these, you no longer have the opportunity to prove your tax assessments. So you are well advised to keep your tax documents at least until the tax office has issued your income tax assessment.
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• You can then immediately throw away documents and receipts that have been submitted to the tax office and withheld. They are not subject to a retention period.

Tax documents are especially important for the self-employed

• If, on the other hand, you are self-employed, you are subject to one Retention and must keep your tax documents, but also your other business documents, for six or ten years.


Retention periods for pay slips - this is what you should keep in mind

Anyone who is in professional life has a lot of paperwork to deal with, for which it ...

• When calculating the deadline, please note that the retention period begins at the end of a calendar year, namely at the end of the year in which the last Entry has been made in your books of account, your business transaction has been established or the inventory has been drawn up, or you have received commercial and business letters, or have sent.
• These retention regulations apply if you are obliged to keep books and records.

Sometimes you have to wait a particularly long time

• Please note that the retention period for tax documents for which the assessment period is due to a tax audit that has not yet been completed is extended preliminary tax assessment, pending investigations, pending legal remedies or applications that are still being processed have not yet expired is. That is how long disposal has to wait.
• Remember that the tax office assumes that you know how long you have tax documents must be kept so that you bear the disadvantages resulting from premature disposal have to. Above all, you have to expect a fine or a tax estimate if you dispose of documents prematurely.

You can dispose of all of this now

• You can destroy books and records, inventory, opening balance sheets, annual financial statements, management reports, accounting records that are from 2001 or earlier in 2012. The 10-year period applies here.
• You can also dispose of commercial and business letters, pay slips, calculation documents and price lists from 2005 and earlier now in 2012. The 6-year period applies here.