finacial records

[neil42]

Hiya everyone,can anyone tell me how long one should keep financial records for,things like old pay packets and bank statements,many thanks.....Neil

[Buenchico]

There are two schools of thought on this one.

The traditional view (i.e. the that my parents, and others of their generation, would have subscribed to) is that many financial matters become 'dead' after 6 years, so that's how long you should keep all of your financial records.

A more modern view is that, to prevent identity theft if anyone gets hold of your financial documents, you should shred them at the earliest opportunity. I usually shred things like credit card statements as soon as I've made the payment on the next statement. I keep pay slips until the end of the financial year and then, once I'm satisfied that HMRC hasn't made any errors, I shred them. I used to keep bank statements for decades. Now I just read them and (unless anything needs to be queried) immediately shred them.

Chris

[neil42]

Thanks Chris
regards....Neil

[factor-fiction]

I agree with Buenchico as usual except I recall reading that there is a legal requirement for us to keep some bank statements (maybe it's for HMRC purposes?), but if you have online statements and store the record that should be okay.
I keep credit card bills for 6 months now instead of 3 years.
I used to keep pay slips for years but now just keep P60s and the last couple of months, but really if your salary doesn't fluctuate there's not much point.

[Skyline D]

Notwithstanding Chris's answer which in practical terms is probably right enough, if you are self employed then it's a requirement to keep all financial records for 6 years (plus the year you are currently in) and if you are fully taxed at source (PAYE / interest and dividends only) then you are supposed to keep them for at least as far back as the start of the previous tax year (6th April) to the one you are currently in.

So as at today's date everyone should have at least back to 6th April 2009. After 6th April 2011 you can probably destroy everything prior to 6th April 2010. However, if you get scenarios like we have now with the Revenue deciding many people were wrongly taxed over several years you would have a problem arguing with it if you haven't retained the appropriate records.

[Whoever]

We keep household bills & credit card bills for about a year (it's always useful to have recent back copies in case you need to produce one as part of the Money Laundering Regulations when opening a new bank or savings account). I would keep your year-end payslips indefinitely because they hold annual records of your National Insurance contributions, and with the chaotic state of governmental record keeping, you may need to produce them years ahead to prove you've paid enough contributions to qualify for your State pension.

I wish I had kept my deceased father's bank statements instead of shredding them when 5 years after his death it transpired that his estate was eligible for a refund of all his care home fees. Trying to produce proof of payment was then a nightmare as the banks only keep archived statements for so long. Luckily I was eventually able to make a successful claim, but it would have been far easier had I had the full documentation at the time. So, you never know when you might need recourse to earlier information.

Any statements relating to income, I would keep for at least six years. Having the documentation when dealing with government departments including HMRC could one day save your sanity.