Free tool

Receipt Retention Checker

The general rule is five years from the date you lodge, which means the answer depends on when you lodged rather than on when you bought something. Pick a financial year and this works out the general date, then lists what commonly makes the period longer.

Assumed: 31 October, the usual deadline for lodging your own return.

Keep at least until

31 October 2031

Within the general five-year period. Keep these records.

Based on lodging: 31 October 2026 + 5

This applies one general rule to a date. It does not know your circumstances, does not cover every situation, and is not tax advice. Retention periods depend on your circumstances and current ATO rules. Check the ATO guidance or ask a registered tax agent before disposing of anything.

When the period runs longer

  • You claim a deduction for the decline in value of a depreciating asset. Records are generally kept for five years from your last claim for that asset, which can be many years after you bought it.
  • The expense relates to an asset that may be subject to capital gains tax. Those records are generally kept until five years after you dispose of the asset.
  • You are carrying forward a loss. Records supporting it are generally kept until five years after the loss is fully claimed.
  • You amend a return. The period generally restarts from the date of the amendment.
  • You are in a dispute with the ATO, or a review or audit is under way. Keep everything until it is fully resolved, and then for the usual period after that.

Before you dispose of anything

  • Check whether any of the situations above apply to that specific expense, not to the year as a whole.
  • Digital copies take no space, so there is rarely a reason to delete them at all.
  • If in doubt, keep it. The cost of keeping a file is nothing; the cost of not having one is the whole claim.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to keep the paper?

A clear digital copy is generally accepted, and photographing thermal receipts early is usually safer than keeping paper that fades well inside five years.How to keep digital receipts →

Is it safe to delete once the date passes?

That is your call and it depends on your circumstances. Digital records cost nothing to keep, so most people are better off keeping them regardless.

Related pages

Australian references

Last reviewed: September 2026. Tax information on this page is based on publicly available Australian Taxation Office guidance. HeyJerni is a record-keeping tool and does not provide tax or financial advice.

Keep them somewhere they last five years

HeyJerni keeps receipt images with the expense on your iPhone, can back up once a day to your own iCloud Drive if you turn it on, and exports a full archive you keep yourself.

Download on App StoreTax receipt app