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
How long do I need to keep receipts in Australia?
The general rule is five years from the date you lodge the return the record supports. Several situations extend that, including depreciating assets, capital gains assets, carried-forward losses, amendments and disputes.
Does the five years run from when I bought the item?
No. It generally runs from the date you lodge the return that includes the claim, which is why two expenses from the same year can have different end dates if they were claimed in different returns.
Do I have to keep the paper?
A digital copy is accepted as a record when it is a true and clear reproduction of the original. Photographing thermal receipts early is usually safer than keeping paper that fades well inside five years.
What if I amend my return?
The period generally restarts from the date of the amendment, so an amendment several years later pushes the retention date out with it.
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
- How long to keep receipts for tax in AustraliaThe rules behind this calculation, in plain English.
- How to keep digital receiptsKeeping files readable across a five-year horizon.
- Tax receipt app for AustraliaStoring the records and exporting a backup you control.
- EOFY expense checklistThe other end of the year: what to gather before you lodge.
Australian references
Keep them somewhere they last five years
HeyJerni stores receipt images with the expense on your iPhone and exports a full backup archive you keep yourself, which is what a five-year horizon actually needs.
HeyJerni is a record-keeping tool, not tax advice.