CRA's general rule is six years from the end of the tax year the record relates to. That covers most receipts, invoices, bank statements and tax returns for a sole proprietor or small corporation. Some documents need to stay longer, so before you shred anything, check which category it falls into.
How long does CRA actually require you to keep records?
For most individuals and small businesses, keep records for six years after the end of the tax year they apply to. If you filed your 2024 return, that means keeping the supporting receipts until the end of 2030. This applies to income tax, GST/HST, and payroll records alike.
The six-year clock starts from the end of the tax year, not the date on the receipt itself. A receipt from January 2024 and one from December 2024 both have the same retention end date, because they both belong to the same tax year.
What counts as a record CRA wants you to keep?
CRA's definition is broader than "receipts." It includes anything that supports a number on your return or your GST/HST filing.
- Sales and income records. Invoices, sales slips, contracts, and bank deposit records.
- Expense receipts. Anything you claimed as a business expense, including vehicle logs, home office costs (see our home office deduction guide for what qualifies there), and supplier invoices.
- Bank and credit card statements. Both business and, if you're self-employed without a separate account, the personal account you run the business through.
- Payroll records. T4s, T4 summaries, pay stubs, and records of deductions remitted if you employ anyone.
- GST/PST filings and work papers. The return itself plus whatever you used to calculate input tax credits.
If a number appears on a tax return or a GST return, you need something behind it. A bank statement showing a payment is not always enough on its own. CRA generally wants the actual invoice or receipt too.
Which records need to be kept longer than six years?
Some situations stretch the retention period well past the standard six years.
- Real property. If you own a rental property, a building used in the business, or land, keep purchase documents, improvement costs, and sale documents for six years after you dispose of the property, not six years after you bought it.
- Incorporation documents. Articles of incorporation, share registers, and director records should be kept permanently, or at minimum for the life of the corporation plus six years after wind-up.
- Capital asset records. Anything tied to capital cost allowance (vehicles, equipment, furniture) needs to be kept until six years after the asset is sold or fully written off, since CRA can ask you to justify the undepreciated capital cost at any point along the way.
- Returns filed late. If you filed a return after its due date, the six-year clock starts from the date you actually filed, not the original deadline.
- Anything under review or objection. If CRA has reassessed you, or you've filed a notice of objection, keep every related record until the matter is fully resolved, even if that pushes past six years.
Does CRA accept digital receipts and scanned records?
Yes. CRA accepts electronic records as long as they're legible and you can produce them if asked. A photo of a faded gas station receipt is fine, provided you can still read the amount, date, and vendor name. Many small business owners in Vancouver scan everything into cloud storage and shred the paper, which is acceptable as long as the digital copy is complete and backed up.
One practical note: thermal paper receipts (the kind from most point-of-sale terminals) fade within a year or two. If you're keeping the paper original instead of scanning it, that fading can become a real problem if CRA asks for it five years later and the ink is gone.
What happens if you can't produce a record during a review?
If CRA reviews a return and asks for support you can't produce, they can disallow the expense or credit, which means you owe the tax back plus interest, and sometimes a penalty. This is the actual risk of poor record keeping: it's not usually about getting caught doing something wrong, it's about not being able to prove you did something right. Keeping organized digital folders by tax year, with receipts matched to the expense category, makes this a non-issue if a review ever comes.
Getting help with recordkeeping systems
If you're not sure whether a specific document needs to be kept for six years or longer (property sales, corporate wind-ups, and objections are the most common grey areas), it's worth a short conversation rather than guessing. Have a rough list of what you're storing and how (paper, email, cloud folder) and we can tell you what to keep, what you can safely shred, and how to set up a simple system going forward. Reach out to Sarv Accounting Services and we'll walk through your specific situation.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to keep paper receipts if I have them scanned?
No. CRA accepts legible digital copies, so once you've scanned a receipt and confirmed you can read it clearly, you can shred the paper original.
What if I never filed a return for a certain year?
If a return was never filed, CRA can generally go back further than six years to review that year, so keep the records until the matter is resolved rather than assuming the standard clock applies.
Do personal tax records need the same six-year retention as business records?
Yes, the same general six-year rule applies to personal income tax records like T4 slips, RRSP contribution receipts, and medical expense receipts, counted from the end of the tax year they relate to.