How long do you keep tax records in Germany?
For businesses, § 147 AO sets 10 years for books and annual accounts and 8 years for invoices and accounting vouchers (shortened from 10 in 2025), counted from the end of the calendar year. Private people have no general duty, except 2 years for invoices for work on a house or land (§ 14b UStG) and 6 years if their income is over €500,000 a year.
Every rule for Germany, with an example
From the official pages linked in each row, checked on October 5, 2026. The example column shows the keep-until date for the 2025 tax year where the rule gives one.
| Document | Official rule | Example (2025) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax returns (your copies) | German tax law sets no general retention duty for private people — the § 147 AO periods apply to businesses. Exception: if your income from employment, renting or investments is over €500,000 a year, keep the records behind it for 6 years (§ 147a AO). Longer if: Keeping them until your tax assessment (Steuerbescheid) is final is sensible, because you may need to prove figures if the tax office asks | no legal duty | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| Receipts and records behind your return | German tax law sets no general retention duty for private people — the § 147 AO periods apply to businesses. Exception: if your income from employment, renting or investments is over €500,000 a year, keep the records behind it for 6 years (§ 147a AO). Longer if: Keeping them until your tax assessment (Steuerbescheid) is final is sensible, because you may need to prove figures if the tax office asks | no legal duty | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| Payslips, W-2s, P60s | German tax law sets no general retention duty for private people — the § 147 AO periods apply to businesses. Exception: if your income from employment, renting or investments is over €500,000 a year, keep the records behind it for 6 years (§ 147a AO). Longer if: Keeping them until your tax assessment (Steuerbescheid) is final is sensible, because you may need to prove figures if the tax office asks | no legal duty | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| Bank statements | German tax law sets no general retention duty for private people — the § 147 AO periods apply to businesses. Exception: if your income from employment, renting or investments is over €500,000 a year, keep the records behind it for 6 years (§ 147a AO). Longer if: Keeping them until your tax assessment (Steuerbescheid) is final is sensible, because you may need to prove figures if the tax office asks | no legal duty | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| Business books and records (self-employed, small business) | Books, records, inventories and annual accounts: 10 years, counted from the end of the calendar year of the last entry (§ 147 AO). Longer if: Accounting vouchers (Buchungsbelege) and invoices: 8 years; Business letters and other tax-relevant documents: 6 years; The period does not end while the tax assessment period is still open | until December 31, 2035 | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| Business invoices and receipts | Invoices issued and received, and accounting vouchers: 8 years from the end of the calendar year they were issued (§ 14b UStG, § 147 AO). The period was shortened from 10 to 8 years in 2025. Longer if: For documents whose period was already running on 1 January 2025, check the transition rule with a tax adviser | until December 31, 2033 | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| Home and property purchase records | Private households: keep invoices for work on a house or land (tradespeople, repairs, maintenance) for 2 years from the end of the year the invoice was issued (§ 14b UStG). | until December 31, 2027 | gesetze-im-internet.de |
| Receipts for purchases (warranty) | Claims for defects lapse 2 years after delivery (5 years for buildings and building materials), so keep the receipt at least that long (§ 438 BGB). | from June 30, 2025: until June 30, 2027 | gesetze-im-internet.de |
We found no official retention rule in Germany for: payroll records (if you employ someone), medical records and bills. Keep those while they could still matter — for a claim, a warranty or a sale.
Keep them on your phone instead of in a box
Scanned copies take up no space and are easier to find when the tax office asks. For the full list of household papers and how long to keep each, see what documents to keep and for how long; to scan them, see how to scan documents on iPhone. For other countries, use the record retention calculator.
General information from official sources, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and your situation may add exceptions — the linked official page is the final word.
How to work out how long to keep a tax record
- Choose the country. Pick the country whose tax authority the record is for — the one you file returns in.
- Choose the document. Tax return, receipts behind it, payslips, bank statements, business records and so on. Documents with no official rule are marked.
- Enter the year or date. Most rules count from the tax year or from the day you filed. The tool asks for whichever this rule needs.
- Read the date and the exceptions. You get the keep-until date, the rule in plain words, the cases where you must keep it longer, and the official source. Add a calendar reminder if you like.