How Long to Keep MTD Records After Filing: HMRC Retention Rules

How Long to Keep MTD Records After Filing: HMRC's Rules Explained

You've filed your quarterly update. The confirmation is in. So what now? Can you delete those receipts? Archive the folder and forget about it? Or do you need to keep everything, forever, just in case? This post gives you straight answers. HMRC has clear rules on how long you must keep your Making Tax Digital records - and once you know the timelines, you can manage your digital files with confidence instead of hoarding everything indefinitely out of habit.

The Short Answer: Six Years in Most Cases

HMRC requires most sole traders and landlords to keep their business and property records for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline for the relevant tax year. In practice, that works out to roughly six years from the end of the tax year the records relate to.

For example: records for the 2026-27 tax year (which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027) would need to be kept until at least 31 January 2034 - that is, five years after the 31 January 2033 filing deadline for that year.

This rule applies whether you are a sole trader, a freelancer, or a landlord. It applies to the income and expense records you use to generate your quarterly updates, and to the underlying evidence behind those figures.

What "Keeping Records" Actually Means for MTD

Here is the bit that trips a lot of people up: HMRC does not require you to keep paper copies. Digital records are perfectly acceptable. In fact, MTD is designed around digital record-keeping - so if you have scanned invoices, digital bank exports, or receipts stored in a folder on your computer or cloud drive, that counts.

You do not need to print anything out. You do not need to post anything to HMRC. You just need the records to be accessible and legible if HMRC ever asks to see them.

What "accessible and legible" means in practice:

• You can open the files and read them.
• The file format is not obsolete or corrupted.
• The records clearly show what the income or expense was, the date, the amount, and who it involved.

If you use bridging software like AffordableMTD, the figures you submitted via quarterly updates may be stored in your account. But you should also keep the underlying source records - the invoices, receipts, and bank statements that those figures came from. The submission itself is not a substitute for the original evidence.

What Counts as a "Record" for Retention Purposes?

For most sole traders and landlords, the records you need to retain include:

• Sales invoices or income records (e.g. rent schedules, payment receipts from clients)
• Purchase receipts and expense invoices
• Bank statements covering business or property transactions
• Mileage logs if you claim simplified mileage rates
• Records of any allowances or adjustments you have claimed
• Tenancy agreements and service charge documents if you are a landlord

For more detail on exactly what HMRC expects you to hold, see our post on HMRC record-keeping standards for MTD.

When Can You Safely Delete Records?

The safe deletion timeline depends on the tax year the record relates to - not the date you filed the quarterly update.

Here is a simple way to think about it:

1. Find the tax year the record belongs to (e.g. 2026-27).
2. Identify the 31 January filing deadline for the final declaration that covers that year (e.g. 31 January 2028).
3. Count five years forward from that date (e.g. 31 January 2033).
4. Do not delete those records before that date.

After that date, you are free to delete. There is no legal obligation to keep them longer under tax law, assuming there is no open HMRC enquiry relating to those records (more on that below).

The Exception: HMRC Can Go Back Further

The standard five-year retention period covers most situations. But HMRC has powers to open an enquiry further back in certain circumstances:

• Up to six years if HMRC believes there has been careless behaviour that led to an underpayment of tax.
• Up to twenty years in cases involving suspected deliberate non-compliance or fraud.

For the vast majority of DIY filers who are keeping honest, accurate records, the standard five-year rule is what applies. But if you have any reason to think a past return may have contained errors - even accidental ones - it is sensible to keep records for six years rather than five, as a buffer.

This is not something to be alarmed about. HMRC routinely opens compliance checks, and most are resolved straightforwardly when the taxpayer has clear records. You can read more about what to expect in our post on HMRC compliance checks after MTD filing.

Common Myths About MTD Record Retention

Myth 1: "I only need to keep records for each quarter I filed"

No. The retention requirement covers all records for the tax year - not just per quarter. Filing four quarterly updates does not reset the clock four times. The whole year's records are covered by a single retention period running from the final declaration deadline.

Myth 2: "Once HMRC accepts my filing, I'm safe to delete everything"

HMRC accepting a submission is not the same as agreeing the figures are correct. HMRC can open an enquiry after acceptance, up to twelve months from the filing date in standard cases (or longer if there are suspected errors). Acceptance just means the return was received - not audited.

Myth 3: "I need paper copies in case HMRC visits"

HMRC does not require paper records. Digital copies stored in a cloud folder, on your hard drive, or in your MTD software account are acceptable. What matters is that you can produce the records if asked - not the format they are in.

Myth 4: "Keeping my quarterly updates is enough"

The quarterly updates you submit are summaries of income and expenses. They do not replace the source documents. HMRC can ask to see the underlying invoices, receipts, and bank statements that support those summaries. Keep the originals, not just the totals.

Myth 5: "My accountant holds all this, so I don't need to"

If you are filing yourself without an accountant, this does not apply. But even if you do use one, the legal obligation to retain records sits with you, the taxpayer - not with your accountant. If your accountant loses their records, HMRC still expects you to be able to produce yours.

Practical Record Hygiene: A Simple System

You do not need a complicated system. A basic folder structure works well for most sole traders and landlords. Here is one approach that makes the retention timeline easy to manage:

1. Create a folder for each tax year (e.g. "MTD Records 2026-27").
2. Inside that, keep subfolders for income, expenses, bank statements, and any other relevant documents.
3. Add a text file or note inside each folder with the date after which you can delete it (e.g. "Safe to delete after 31 January 2033").
4. At the start of each new tax year, archive the previous year's folder to a cloud drive or external storage.
5. Set a calendar reminder for each year's deletion date.

If you are uploading expenses via CSV or using AI categorisation in your MTD software, you may also want to export and save a copy of your categorised data for each quarter. Our guide on importing expenses with CSV upload and AI categorisation explains how that process works in practice.

Cloud Storage vs Local Storage

Both work. Cloud storage (such as Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox) has the advantage of being accessible from anywhere and is less likely to be lost if your computer fails. Local storage on an external hard drive is a reasonable backup. Ideally, use both - one copy in the cloud and one local backup.

The key risk to avoid is relying solely on an app that you might stop using. If you switch software or a service closes down, make sure you have exported your records before you lose access.

What About Landlords Specifically?

If you are a landlord, the same six-year general rule applies. But there are some records you may want to keep for longer, particularly those relating to property ownership, capital improvements, and disposal:

• Records of purchase costs and stamp duty paid (relevant if you ever sell).
• Evidence of capital improvements (these can reduce a Capital Gains Tax liability on disposal).
• Tenancy agreements, especially where deposit disputes could arise.
• Service charge records and ground rent receipts for the relevant years.

Capital Gains Tax records in particular may need to be held for as long as you own the property, plus the standard retention period after the year you sell. That can be significantly longer than six years.

For a broader view of what landlords need to track quarter by quarter, see our post on what counts as a landlord expense in your MTD quarterly update.

What Happens If You Cannot Produce Records?

If HMRC opens an enquiry and you cannot produce the records they ask for - because you deleted them prematurely, or never kept them in the first place - HMRC can make an assessment based on their own estimates. Those estimates are often not in your favour.

You may also face penalties for failing to keep adequate records. HMRC can charge up to £3,000 for a failure to keep records that were legally required.

The good news is that if you are keeping clean, organised digital records throughout the year, this is not something you need to worry about. The record-keeping burden for most sole traders and landlords is genuinely manageable when you stay on top of it. Our post on what to keep after filing a quarterly update covers the practical side in more detail.

Summary: The Key Retention Rules at a Glance

• Keep records for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline for the relevant tax year - typically around six years from the end of that tax year.
• Digital records are fine. No printing required.
• The retention clock runs from the final declaration deadline, not from each quarterly update.
• Never delete records during an open HMRC enquiry.
• HMRC can go back further in cases of careless or deliberate error - six years for carelessness, twenty for fraud.
• Keep source documents (receipts, invoices, bank statements), not just the filed summaries.
• Landlords with capital assets may need to retain some records for much longer.

Once you know the timelines, managing your MTD records becomes a straightforward annual task rather than an open-ended anxiety. Set your deletion dates when you archive each year's folder, back up to the cloud, and you are done. There is no need to keep everything forever - and no need to print a thing.