# how long to keep bank statements etc. ?



## Midsummer (1 May 2008)

Hi - I'm doing a clearout soon & have a filing cabinet full of filed & unfiled documents.  How long should everything be kept ?  Obviously important things will be kept but for old bank statements, bills etc. should I chuck everything after a certain time ?

Advice appreciated !


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## vandriver (2 May 2008)

Don't forget to shred everything you decide to discard to guard against identity theft


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## clonboy (2 May 2008)

i applied for planning permission last year. and had to show evidence of me residing in the area.. well let me tell you its very difficult to show letters addrsssed to you for the last 10 years,, i throw everything away,, i only had an old life assurance policy addressed to me at that address from 10 years ago,, ,, i am self employed now so had most of the phone bills etc for the last 2 years but very little that was older


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## ClubMan (2 May 2008)

If you want to keep a record of them but are concerned about the physical space taken up then you could always consider scanning them into digital form. For what it's worth it's probably worth keeping anything that might be relevant to taxation issues (including bank statements as a paper trail for where money went) for at least 6 years. I don't think that there's any overriding need to keep household utility bills for more than a few months/years back. I don't know what other stuff might be in your box other than tax documents, bank statements, household utility bills. Maybe you can clarify.


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## wheels (2 May 2008)

ClubMan said:


> If you want to keep a record of them but are concerned about the physical space taken up then you could always consider scanning them into digital form.



That's a great suggestion, I would have never have thought of that even thought its glaringly obvious. 

If you are worried about proof address from certain periods perhaps keep a copy of one bill & statement from each year and discard the rest. It should still make for a decent clear out.


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## ubiquitous (2 May 2008)

I would suggest that, where possible, individuals should retain their taxation records indefinitely. The various Revenue "look back" investigations in recent years put the burden of proof on the targeted taxpayers to prove their innocence as it were. The minority who had retained records back 20-30 years (crazy and all as it sounds) were in a much stronger position than those who had no records.


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## ClubMan (2 May 2008)

I agree. I myself keep income (payslips/_P60s_) and tax documents indefinitely and bank statements for a couple of years.


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## sam h (2 May 2008)

Scanning is a great idea....do you know would a scanned copy of a reciept satisfy a shop a proof of purchase?  I'm forever misplacing reciepts.


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## ubiquitous (2 May 2008)

sam h said:


> Scanning is a great idea....do you know would a scanned copy of a reciept satisfy a shop a proof of purchase?



Why not?


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## Midsummer (3 May 2008)

thanks for the food for thought...  

I'll keep all tax records in that case - I would have thought revenue would have records going back which you would be entitled to but just in case.  

I have files on :  

Bank statements
Insurance policies (car, house, contents etc.)
Revenue
Household bills
Bupa
Car tax
House purchase documents
Mortage statements (10 years +)
Employment contracts
Purchase receipts & manuals etc. (keep obviously)

Really the most room is taken up with bank statements - I get way too many of them (relative to money held !).  Would 2 years be enough to keep them for ?  I think I'll chuck all my bills after 6 months.

I'm a bit reluctant to scan anything to be honest in case of a crash.


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## miss.s (3 May 2008)

ubiquitous said:


> Why not?


 
sorry but for nearly all stores ( i am a store manager) you need the original reciept reason being you could purchase a item for €100 scan the reciept,bring back item with scanned reciept then if you were of a dishonest nature if you were to steal the same item out of the store and use your original reciept to bring back stolen item you would then have gotten away with €100


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## WhoAmI (4 May 2008)

miss.s said:


> sorry but for nearly all stores ( i am a store manager) you need the original reciept reason being you could purchase a item for €100 scan the reciept,bring back item with scanned reciept then if you were of a dishonest nature if you were to steal the same item out of the store and use your original reciept to bring back stolen item you would then have gotten away with €100



That would be fine if retailers used ink and paper for receipts which did not fade before the guarantee/warranty runs out.


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## ClubMan (4 May 2008)

miss.s said:


> sorry but for nearly all stores ( i am a store manager) you need the original reciept reason being you could purchase a item for €100 scan the reciept,bring back item with scanned reciept then if you were of a dishonest nature if you were to steal the same item out of the store and use your original reciept to bring back stolen item you would then have gotten away with €100


Statutory consumer rights just require the consumer to have "proof of purchase". This is not necessarily the original receipt. Store specific policies cannot undermine one's statutory consumer rights.


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