Expenses Receipts Originals or scans?

[enteruk]

Hi all,

Expenses Receipts should be kept for 6 years according to HMRC.

It is pretty difficult to have all the originals, especially if you are moving from place to place.

Is it OK to have scanned receipts for the HMRC in case of inspection?

Thanks,

[northernladuk]

http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...-receipts.html

7 iPhone Expense Tracker Apps

[Contreras]

Hi all,

Expenses Receipts should be kept for 6 years according to HMRC.

It is pretty difficult to have all the originals, especially if you are moving from place to place.

Is it OK to have scanned receipts for the HMRC in case of inspection?

Thanks,

Not sure I agree it's difficult to keep receipts, just takes a little organisation. That said, AFAIK scanned copies are fine and in fact advisable since till receipts often fade to the point of being impossible to read after a while.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Nothing wrong with scans. There are only a handful of documents that need to be kept in their original format these days.

[diesel]

scans are only good if you keep a back up copy to avoid losing all files to accidental deletion.

Why would one not keep paper copies in the loft, then after 6 years shred them? I thought HMRC could dig deeper than 6 years?

[captainham]

scans are only good if you keep a back up copy to avoid losing all files to accidental deletion.

And a piece of cake to do with all the Dropbox/Drive/Skydrive etc etc options out there these days.

[Clare@InTouch]

Keep original copies of dividend vouchers as they contain a tax credit, but most other things can be scanned rather than kept in boxes in your loft/study/garage etc.

[Martin at NixonWilliams]

+1 on Clare's point. The same also applies with bank interest certificates which is often forgotten.

It's a lot more hassle but the best thing to do it keep both. If you lose the data on your computer, you have the original document stored in your loft - & vice versa if you lose the original copes.

[mudskipper]

I keep paper receipts. In the event that HMRC do wish to see them, and they have faded beyond legibility, I'm assuming they'd be taken on trust.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

scans are only good if you keep a back up copy to avoid losing all files to accidental deletion.

Surely it goes without saying that you should always have backups of your data? I have several; Time Machine backup, online backup plus various things stored in Dropbox/source control make data loss unlikely.