# How long do people hold on to their documents?



## rob oyle (6 Mar 2017)

Hi,

Did a bit of a spring clean over the weekend and came across a bundle of old (and what would have been at the time, important) documents - payslips, P60s, dividend counterfoils, tax credit certs for years gone by and things like the documentation received with my car insurance. How long do people hold on to these for? I would've thought maybe 4-6 years but then if you have your P60 for 2014, do you really need 52/12 different payslips too? If you have last years no claims bonus cert, do you need to keep every one that came before it?

Obviously birth certs, house deeds and the like are more important and should be retained indefinitely but what else is too important to be disposed of?


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## Gordon Gekko (6 Mar 2017)

The tax stuff needs be retained for 6 years...


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## mathepac (6 Mar 2017)

Keeping the NCT certs for cars can be a good idea in terms of building a history for it.


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## llgon (6 Mar 2017)

I keep all payslips and P60s indefinitely in case there's ever an issue with pension and PRSI contributions. Probably not necessary but I have the attic space


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## Daenis (6 Mar 2017)

have you a printer that doubles as a scanner?  If so you could scan all the payslips but keep your P60's and P45's you might need them when it comes to applying for your pension.


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## Laramie (7 Mar 2017)

I needed old P60s recently when applying for my pension. I needed to UP the tax free lump sum that was available to me. My P60s proved that with bonuses, BIK etc I was actually earning more than my basic salary.
I also kept a few payslips from every year that came in useful.
House/Car Insurance/Health Insurance I dump after 3 years. Household bills gone at the end of the year.

It's funny. I keep my NCT certs only to compare against the previous NCT test. It's amazing how my car can actually improve from test to test despite NOT having it serviced.


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## NewEdition (7 Mar 2017)

But if you are audited, cant they go back indefinitely?
You then have no documentation to use in your defence if required.
I have years of paperwork.. would love to throw out (shred/burn) anything older than 6 years.


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## Gordon Gekko (7 Mar 2017)

No, not unless they legitimately suspect fraud or neglect.


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## NewEdition (7 Mar 2017)

But what would you be able to use in your defence if you did not keep the documents?


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## Bronte (7 Mar 2017)

I keep everything forever. My old boss was audited and ended up paying a couple of million to revenue.  He told me to keep everything forever.

There are other reasons other than tax for doing so.  Banks miscalculating mortgages.  I got 10K back from my bank when they discovered I was incorrectly charged about 5 years ago.  Banks telling you they don't have the original mortgage consent form (many posters on here).  Ditto insurance companies.  (that happened to me).  And something many of you will find out about.  NPPR.  (I must do a thread on that).


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## Gerry Canning (7 Mar 2017)

Bronte , you are an old pessimist !
That insult over , you are also correct .
......................
My pennies worth.
1. Banks , we trusted them , they screwed us = keep everything.Their thievery keeps showing.
2. Insurance companies , we never really trusted them , they still screwed us = keep everything.
3. Tax , normal PAYE , they keep good records,but if self employed = keep it.
4. Daenis , if you quote your PRSI number you write to Dept Soc Welfare , Buncrana and they will update your pension inputs on one tidy sheet.


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## PMU (7 Mar 2017)

In addition to the suggestions you have received, I would recommend you (a) keep all details of car insurance.   (When I worked abroad I had to produce details of my car insurance history (luckily I had it) to have my premium calculated under the bonus/malus system, equivalent to our no claims bonus. You never know when you may have to emigrate.) (b) Also, end of year payslips, or at least some evidence of pension contributions made in each job you've had.


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## roker (23 Apr 2017)

I am selling my house and the tax want details that I lived in it 2009


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## dub_nerd (24 Apr 2017)

roker said:


> I am selling my house and the tax want details that I lived in it 2009


There's been some discussions of the NPPR exemption on here lately --


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