Receipt retention periods in Germany for businesses and small businesses

Under section 147 of the German Fiscal Code (AO), a business keeps accounting vouchers and invoices for eight years, books and records for ten years, and the remaining tax-relevant documents such as business letters for six years. The period starts at the end of the calendar year in which the document arose. It also does not end while the assessment period for the tax concerned is still running. This article shows the periods in a table, works through an example and says what applies to small businesses and EÜR filers.

Last updated: 26 October 2026

The essentials in brief

Ten years: books and records, inventories, annual financial statements, opening balance sheet (section 147 (1) no. 1, (3) AO).
Eight years: accounting vouchers (section 147 (1) no. 4, (3) AO) and invoices and copies of invoices (section 14b (1) UStG).
Six years: received business letters, copies of letters sent and other documents, as far as they matter for taxation.
Start of the period: at the end of the calendar year in which the document arose (section 147 (4) AO).
Digital is allowed: you may keep documents as a reproduction on a data medium if the statutory conditions are met (section 147 (2) AO).

Retention periods at a glance

Document	Period	Legal basis
Books and records, inventories, annual financial statements, opening balance sheet	10 years	section 147 (1) no. 1, (3) AO
Accounting vouchers	8 years	section 147 (1) no. 4, (3) AO
Invoices you receive and copies of your invoices	8 years	section 14b (1) UStG
Received business letters, copies of letters sent	6 years	section 147 (1) nos. 2 and 3, (3) AO
Other documents, as far as relevant for taxation	6 years	section 147 (1) no. 5, (3) AO

Shorter periods under non-tax laws do not change these periods (section 147 (3) sentence 2 AO). For received delivery notes that are not accounting vouchers, the period ends when you receive the invoice (section 147 (3) sentence 3 AO).

When does the period start and when does it end?

The period starts at the end of the calendar year in which the last entry was made in the book or the accounting voucher arose (section 147 (4) AO); for invoices at the end of the calendar year in which they were issued (section 14b (1) sentence 3 UStG).

Example: you receive an invoice on 15 March 2026. The period starts at the end of 2026 and lasts eight years; you therefore keep the invoice until the end of 2034. If you make the last entry for your 2026 income and expenses in 2026, the ten-year period for those records ends at the end of 2036. The example works through the stated rules; it is not statutory text.

The period does not end, however, as far and as long as the documents matter for taxes for which the assessment period has not yet expired (section 147 (3) sentence 5 AO). So do not throw anything away while a tax notice is open or under audit; if in doubt, ask your tax office or tax adviser.

Does this apply to small businesses and the EÜR?

Yes. Even those who calculate their profit as a surplus under section 4 (3) EStG have to keep records and documents under section 147 (1) AO, according to the Federal Ministry of Finance's GoBD letter (margin number 115). For invoice retention under section 14b UStG, section 19 (1) sentence 2 UStG lists the provisions that do not apply to small businesses: the exemption for intra-Community supplies, the waiver of exemptions, VAT IDs on invoices and the filing duties under section 18 (1) to (4). Section 14b UStG is not among them. If you are unsure about your case, ask your tax office.

Order: keep documents findable, not just stored

Documents subject to retention must be kept in order (section 147 (1) AO; GoBD margin number 117). A simple structure is enough as long as you can find a receipt again: one folder or folder tree per year, with income and expenses kept apart. In a tax audit the tax office can inspect the stored data and use the data processing system for the audit (section 147 (6) AO).

Paper or digital?

You may also keep documents as a reproduction on an image medium or other data media if that complies with the principles of proper bookkeeping and it is ensured that the reproduction matches the received business letters and accounting vouchers visually, and the other documents in content, when made legible, and that they are available at any time during the retention period, can be made legible without delay and can be machine-evaluated (section 147 (2) AO). Annual financial statements and the opening balance sheet are excluded from this option.

After scanning, paper documents may be destroyed under margin number 140 of the GoBD, unless they must be kept as originals under non-tax or tax rules. What a proper scanning procedure looks like is explained in GoBD and digital receipts and receipt scanning apps.

Common mistakes

Throwing everything away after three years. The statutory periods are six, eight or ten years.
Counting from the receipt date instead of year-end. The period starts at the end of the calendar year (section 147 (4) AO).
Collecting receipts unsorted in a box. Keeping documents in order is mandatory (section 147 (1) AO).
Leaving digital receipts only in an inbox. They must stay available and legible for the whole period (section 147 (2) AO).
Letting the period lapse without checking open tax matters. It does not end while the assessment period runs.

How it works with VAT GPT

You upload income and expense receipts to VAT GPT as PDF, photo or XML file. For invoices the AI reads date, amounts, VAT, currency and country and assigns expenses to one of 29 categories; you check and confirm the result. Through the data export you get a ZIP file with your income and expense receipts as original files, filed by year, quarter and month, with overview tables and a DATEV bookings file for your tax adviser.

After that it takes three steps:

Upload files: your Amazon or eBay CSV reports and your invoices. The AI reads amounts, countries and tax rates.
Check the result: VAT GPT breaks down the VAT for Germany and the EU (OSS) and prepares the advance return – monthly or quarterly. You check and confirm.
Send: with VAT GPT Pro via ELSTER directly to the tax office.

With Go you use all Pro features free of charge for 30 days. Get to know VAT GPT or create an account right away.

What VAT GPT does not do

VAT GPT is not tax advice.
VAT GPT is not an archive that stores receipts according to the GoBD, and it does not monitor retention periods: you work out and observe the periods yourself. You start a data export as a backup of your files in the settings.
VAT GPT does not scan paper receipts: you upload photos or scans that you made with your smartphone or scanner.

What does VAT GPT cost?

Free (basic features, free of charge), Go (30 days free with all Pro features), Pro €49 per month or €444 per year, each including VAT.

Frequently asked questions

How long must I keep invoices? Eight years, starting at the end of the calendar year in which the invoice was issued (section 14b (1) UStG).

How long bank statements and receipts? As far as they are accounting vouchers, eight years (section 147 (3) AO). Whether a document is an accounting voucher depends on the case; if in doubt, take the longer period.

Does the period apply to me as a small business? Yes; even those who calculate the surplus under section 4 (3) EStG keep the documents named in section 147 (1) AO (GoBD margin number 115).

May I throw away paper receipts after scanning? Under the GoBD, paper documents may be destroyed after proper image capture unless they must be kept as originals (margin number 140).

What counts as the start of the period? The end of the calendar year in which the document arose or the invoice was issued (section 147 (4) AO; section 14b (1) UStG).