how long to keep statements for?

sammyw

Things like bank account and credit card statements? How many years worth should we keep? We don't have a scanner so not interested in scanning and saving them onto disc, but need to declutter the filing cabinet as much as possible so we can start looking after finances properly.

opinions4u

I keep mine for 2 years.

Inland Revenue might what proof of some spending going back 6 years.

Chuck them in the loft when you put the Xmas decorations away if you have a large amount of paper from it!

MPH80

Mmm - I've got 6 years hanging round - seems like a good number :-)

olly300

This thread comes up often.

The answer is it depends on your circumstances if you have to do self-assessment then keep them for 7 years otherwise anything over 1 year.

Paul_Herring

Box them up, one box per April-March (or April 6th-April 5th if you want to be particularly anal about it) for each year, and stick the boxes in the loft or somewhere. 6 full previous years is the usual recommended period.

dlk

Even if you might need them in the future it would depend who you bank with. I don't know if this is the case with other banks but certainly mine (first direct)you can order the last 6 years free of charge at any time anyway so don't see any point in using up space at my house for them so I don't get them to send any at all just looking online.

confused_I_think

I think I have kept all mine which probably means back to 78.
If you want to organise yourselves and not keep them then enter them on a spread sheet etc, a tedious process. I was self employed a while back and did this so that I could cross reference reciepts etc, ( I rarely paid for anything in cash) I found it remarkably useful. I have tried scanning them but the output of character recognition software was not compatable.

getmore4less

sammyw wrote: »

Things like bank account and credit card statements? How many years worth should we keep? We don't have a scanner so not interested in scanning and saving them onto disc, but need to declutter the filing cabinet as much as possible so we can start looking after finances properly.

That implies that space will be the deciding factor on how much you keep

One advantage of having the history is you can use that to build up a data set in something like MSmoney and set your budget based on real data not guess work. Having the old data also helps with setting up catagories for budgeting.

I use a seperate ring binder for each account/CC/bill.

Decide what system you want to setup, file any new stuff using that and migrate the old stuff over time.

bungle4x4

i shred them, its the digital age, and the bank can give you another copy with minimum fuss.

olly300

bungle4x4 wrote: »

i shred them, its the digital age, and the bank can give you another copy with minimum fuss.

Legally institutions only have to keep records for 7 years.

If you are in a situation where you need your records I wouldn't rely on a bank coming up with them quickly.

I know people who have been hassled by the tax man and the stress of getting thing would be greater if they didn't have their own records to hand immediately.

oldwiring

FWIW here are some links to HMRC's requirements.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/rec-keep-self-emp.htm

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/record-keeping.htm

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/rec-keep-part-partners.htm

All from
http://search.hmrc.gov.uk/kbroker/inldrev/inldrev/search.lsim?sr=0&nh=20&cs=iso-8859-1&sc=ir&ha=7&mt=0&qt=Record+keeping&submit=+Search

Anything which could be a supporting record should included.