How long do you hang on to old bank statements ?
September 5, 2009 - 1:14 am
When do you think it is safe to throw away old statements and receipts extra. How far back can the tax man go?
You should hang onto them for at least 3 years, but 7 is recommended. It’s good to hang onto paperwork just in case you need to refer back to it in the future. But, if you closed the account - it’s irrelevant history; therefore, it can be shredded.
September 5th, 2009 at 6:42 am
All the banks have online statements archived for Eg: Bank of America.
So you can throw them and find any time in the online banking facility or can request for a statement from the bank
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September 5th, 2009 at 6:57 am
till i find something better to hold
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September 5th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Keep your statements for 6 years. This is the length of time data is held on you by Banks, Equifax, Experian etc.
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September 5th, 2009 at 7:48 am
6 years in the uk as the tax man could ask to see them.
Never safe to throw away bank statements, make sure you shred or burn them.
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September 5th, 2009 at 8:33 am
You should hang onto them for at least 3 years, but 7 is recommended. It’s good to hang onto paperwork just in case you need to refer back to it in the future. But, if you closed the account - it’s irrelevant history; therefore, it can be shredded.
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September 5th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Statements I print them off as and when I need them.
Receipts, I only keep those that I can claim against, or for proof of purchase.
The rest get shredded.
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September 5th, 2009 at 9:31 am
It is a waste of time and space to hold on to them for much longer than a year. Sometimes you can need statements for tax purposes and things like that, but unless you have a very complicated tax return I would get rid of the statements after you balane your register and verify everything cleared your account properly for that particular statement cycle. If you ever need the statement again, you can pull it up online (normally back to 18 months) or your banker can pull it up as far back as you need fairly quickly.
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September 5th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Many banks now ask you to opt out of paper statements if you have online banking, and just keep your records on the internet. This seems much sensibler (in terms of the environment and your own storage) and safer (in terms of the threat of id theft). So I would say don’t keep them ever.
Receipts? When was the last time you needed a receipt you’d kept? Maybe once for a high value item? If its for anything less than £100 (and assuming you don’t need it for tax records) I would never keep them.
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September 5th, 2009 at 10:18 am
I bank online, so I don’t have any statements sent to my home address. If I need a bank statement from the very beginning of opening my account, my bank will have that. It might cost me a few bob to get hold of it, but it’s there if I ever need it. Also, I can download my statements and save them on my pc, so again, no paper wastage (GO GREEN!)
Have you considered banking online? As for receipts, you could scan these and save them to your pc as well.
In the UK, the taxman can go as far back as they want.
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