Sole Trader Question

spilledink

Please move this to the right section if I'm posting in the wrong place, quick question about HMRC and being a Sole Trader.

Do I need to keep a copy of an invoice/receipt for each transaction I have with a customer? As it stands I don't tend to do this, because I earn much too little to pay tax.

99.99% of my transactions are over the internet, and through paypal, so I have all the information logged digitally, if I need to access it. But do I need to print these invoices out, in case HMRC investigates me?

In January I got a letter from HMRC, warning that small businesses such as mine may be investigated and that if this happens I'll need all my accounts in order. My accounts are in order, I've just never done the printing of every invoice before.

Thanks in advance

Darksparkle

Info on their site about what records you need to keep. It confirms receipts and invoices should be kept.

You need to keep records regardless of whether you pay any tax. They could easily be checking to make sure you aren't deliberately under declaring your earnings to avoid paying tax.

https://www.gov.uk/self-employed-records/what-records-to-keep

spilledink

Thanks very much, I know what I'll be doing for the next week now!