Storing receipts digitally: does the tax office allow it?

What the law requires: a reliable reproduction

You may convert paper documents into a digital version and destroy the original, provided the conversion gives an accurate and complete reproduction of the original, the authenticity features come along and the digital version stays available for the entire retention period. All data must be legible and nothing may be lost. The reverse is not allowed: an invoice you receive digitally is kept digitally, not just as a printout.

In practice that comes down to four requirements. A decent scan from your accounting app usually meets them, but it pays to tick them off deliberately.

1. Complete: the whole receipt, including the edges, the VAT amount and the date. A cropped corner can be exactly the VAT amount.
2. Legible: sharp enough to read every amount, even in seven years.
3. Unaltered: you may not change the content. Keep the original scan, not just an edited version.
4. Retrievable: you must be able to produce it on request within reasonable time, even after switching software.

Pitfall one: thermal receipts fade

Most till receipts are printed on thermal paper. That fades, and not after years: with heat or light a receipt can become illegible within months. Leaving it in a drawer to scan later means scanning a blank slip six months on.

This is exactly why digital storage is not just permitted but sensible. Scan the receipt the day you get it and the problem disappears. If a receipt has gone missing anyway, see receipt lost for what you can still do. If you prefer keeping paper, store it dark and cool, but it stays fragile.

Pitfall two: switching accounting software

Your scans live in your accounting package. Cancel that subscription and you often lose access, while your seven-year retention obligation simply continues. That problem only appears once it is too late.

So on every switch, and when closing your business, make a full export you can open independently. A PDF export of your ledger with attachments, stored somewhere that does not depend on your software.

• Export your records annually, even if you are not going anywhere
• Keep the export in two places, one of them off your computer
• Check that the receipts actually come along, not just the ledger lines
• Only cancel your software after checking the export

What still has to stay on paper

Almost nothing. There is no category of receipt that must be kept physically. One rule does apply: a document received digitally, such as an emailed invoice, need not be printed. Keep the original PDF rather than a printout you rescan.

Data on immovable property has a longer ten-year retention period, but that too may be digital.

In practice: how to keep up

The real problem is rarely the technology but the habit. Receipts you only gather in January are lost or faded. A fixed routine solves it.

1. Scan the receipt at the till with your accounting software app.
2. Pay with your business card, so the transaction matches the scan automatically.
3. Have emailed invoices sent straight to your accounting package's inbox address.
4. Review open items monthly rather than annually; see clearing a backlog.

What may go digital and what may not

Scanning is allowed and the paper may then go, but not for everything and not under all conditions. This is the distinction.

Frequently asked questions