There is a legal requirement to retain records relating to the self assessment tax return. Although it is the taxpayer who must retain the records, it is acceptable for the agent to retain documents on their files, subject to the firm’s internal policy on document retention and data protection.
It is not specified in the legislation in what form the records must be kept (eg electronic records or paper copies). However, there is guidance in the HMRC Compliance Manual on this matter (see below). There is also guidance on the GOV.UK website.
Digital record keeping required under making tax digital (MTD) is discussed at the end of this guidance note.
How long should tax records be kept?
Even taking into account the time limits for keeping records discussed below, it is still a good idea to advise the taxpayer to retain documents relating to exceptional transactions for a longer period of time. If HMRC suspects that evasion has taken place, it can raise tax assessments going back as far as 20 years. As this is outside
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