# How long should I keep payslips for



## pepperds (18 Aug 2008)

Very simple question, from how far back should I keep my payslips?

I am PAYE employed, my wife is self-employed & we have submitted returns for 2005 & 2006.

cheers


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## ubiquitous (18 Aug 2008)

I would shred them on receipt unless planning to use them for a loan application. No sense in keeping them otherwise, far too much personal information included and P60 records all data for tax purposes.


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## Towger (18 Aug 2008)

You should keep them forever, or at least until you are claiming your pension and everything is settled.

Your pension contributions (employee and employer) should (legally) be printed on the Payslip, it is not recored on your P60, which only contains your taxable pay.


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## ubiquitous (18 Aug 2008)

Towger said:


> You should keep them forever, or at least until you are claiming your pension and everything is settled.
> 
> Your pension contributions (employee and employer) should (legally) be printed on the Payslip, it is not recored on your P60, which only contains your taxable pay.



 P60s include details of PRSI contribution class(es) and number of weeks credits in a given year.


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## advisor (18 Aug 2008)

I would reccomend keeping them until you receive your P60 for the year in question.  If all your details to week 52 (53) correspond with your P60 then I would just shred them and retain P60.  Details to check are:
Taxable pay:
Tax Paid:
Total PRSI:
Employers Cont
Employees Cont.
Number of insurable weeks


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## ClubMan (18 Aug 2008)

ubiquitous said:


> P60s include details of PRSI contribution class(es) and number of weeks credits in a given year.


Yes but _Towger _said:


Towger said:


> You should keep them forever, or at least until you are claiming your pension and everything is settled.
> 
> Your pension contributions (employee and employer) should (legally) be printed on the Payslip, it is not recored on your P60, which only contains your taxable pay.


Isn't he correct - i.e. that not all details relevant to remuneration are necessarily available on the _P60_? 

I have almost every payslip that I ever received over the past 20 years or so. Doesn't take up much space at all and I just retained them in case of any _Revenue _interest in them (given that I had some slightly creative although totally legal tax avoidance stuff on the go years back).


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## ubiquitous (18 Aug 2008)

ClubMan said:


> Yes but _Towger _said:
> 
> Isn't he correct - i.e. that not all details relevant to remuneration are necessarily available on the _P60_?



Indeed, but payslips in themselves don't prove anything, (in that anyone with payroll software could quite easily forge their own) and if subsequent queries arise, they are generally best/only resolved via a letter from the employer. I personally think that the potential usefulness of keeping payslips has to be countered with the privacy/possible identity theft implications of losing them. Especially for anyone paid weekly, it is quite an exercise to keep all payslips safety, given that they are normally small slips of paper.


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## DrMoriarty (18 Aug 2008)

ClubMan said:


> I had some slightly creative although totally legal tax avoidance stuff on the go years back.


Sure isn't there loads of storage space on that island of yours, anyway?


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## Towger (18 Aug 2008)

You need to record your pension contributions from your employer, the P60s will do for SW. So unless they are sending regular yearly pension statements, I would keep them.
I have worked in a pension company on their computer systems. Would you trust 40+ year old data which has been transferred across 3 or 4 totally different computer systems over its life time...


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## ubiquitous (18 Aug 2008)

Towger said:


> So unless they are sending regular yearly pension statements, I would keep them.



I thought that annual pension statements are explicitly required by law to be provided to each employee?



Towger said:


> Would you trust 40+ year old data which has been transferred across 3 or 4 totally different computer systems over its life time...



Would you trust a 40-year old payslip? Or indeed a 4-year old one? I certainly wouldn't.


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## ClubMan (18 Aug 2008)

ubiquitous said:


> I thought that annual pension statements are explicitly required by law to be provided to each employee?


For occupational funds this is only the case while the employee is a member of the scheme. Once they leave they have to request these manually.


> Would you trust a 40-year old payslip? Or indeed a 4-year old one? I certainly wouldn't.


I would since I check mine at the time I get them so the time lag makes no difference to their authority.


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## ubiquitous (18 Aug 2008)

Okay then, would you trust someone else's 40-year old payslip, presented as part of a claim for entitlements?


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## Towger (18 Aug 2008)

ubiquitous said:


> IWould you trust a 40-year old payslip? Or indeed a 4-year old one? I certainly wouldn't.


 
No. I don't trust computer systems, but I trust them more than the people who used them.  A written record is better than nothing, if you have any problems.


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## Black Sheep (18 Aug 2008)

I would keep payslips for a couple of years at least. 
Had an interesting situation recently where a person applied for SW benefit and only 38 payments were recorded on P60 in the relevant tax year. 39 were required. The 2 week holiday pay had been recorded as 1 PRSI payment(for P60 purposes) but the person had kept all 39 payslips which we duly photocopied and sent to SW who allowed the claim.


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