self assesment

ministox5

hi; everyone i have been self-employed for five years does any body know how long i have to keep previous years accounts for. thanks:beer:

yogi3

Short answer 6 years.

For businesses that are not limited companies, the basic requirement is that normally records must be retained for five years from the 31 January following the tax year for which the tax return is made. For example, for the 2002 tax return sent to you on 6 April 2002, to complete and send back by 31 January 2003, records must be retained until at least 31 January 2008.

For companies, the records for an accounting period will normally have to be retained for six years from the end of that period, so that if the accounting period ends on 31 December 2002 the records must be kept until 31 December 2008.

Individuals not carrying on a business who are required to complete a tax return will normally have to retain their records for at least 22 months from the end of the tax year to which they relate. For example, for the 2002 tax return issued on 6 April 2002, records will have to be kept until at least 31 January 2004.