Keep every record that explains your sales, purchases and GST decisions for five years: in English (or easily converted to it), unaltered, and stored safely. Paper and digital are equally acceptable. The five years generally runs from when you prepared or obtained the record, or completed the transaction it relates to, whichever is later. To claim a GST credit you need a tax invoice for any purchase over $82.50 including GST; smaller purchases still need some record of what you bought and from whom.
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The five rules the ATO actually checks.
Strip away the detail and the ATO's record-keeping framework is five requirements. Your records must cover all transactions relevant to your tax and super affairs, be kept unaltered and protected from damage, be stored for five years, be in English or easily convertible to English, and be producible on request if the ATO asks. Nothing in there mandates software, a bookkeeper or a filing cabinet. The rules are about completeness and durability, not format.
The GST records to keep.
For a GST-registered business, "records that explain your transactions" comes down to a fairly short list:
| Record | Examples | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Sales records | Invoices you issued, cash register tapes, platform sales reports, payout statements | Evidence for the GST on sales you report at label 1A |
| Purchase records | Tax invoices, receipts, import documents | Evidence for the GST credits you claim at 1B: tax invoice required over $82.50 |
| Adjustment notes | Credit notes for refunds, returns, price changes | Support the adjustments you report when a sale changes after lodgement |
| Bank records | Statements, loan documents, merchant/payment-gateway reports | The ATO's data-matching starts here. Your records should reconcile to them |
| Decisions and working papers | How you classified GST-free sales, private-use apportionment, BAS correction workings | Show why a number is what it is, not just what it is |
| Registration and method records | GST registration details, your cash or accrual election | Set the ground rules every BAS is prepared under |
If you have staff, add payroll to the pile: wages, PAYG withholding and super records. Note that employee records sit under Fair Work rules as well as tax rules, and Fair Work requires them to be kept for seven years, not five.
When the five years starts: and when it runs longer.
The clock starts at the later of when you prepared or obtained the record and when the transaction it relates to was completed. In practice that means a tax invoice from July 2026 needs to survive until at least July 2031, and longer if the record keeps doing work. Keep records beyond five years when:
- An assessment is still open. Any record used for a BAS or tax return that's within its period of review (or under objection, review or appeal) must be kept until that's resolved.
- The record spans years. Depreciating assets, and anything relevant to capital gains, need their purchase records kept while you hold the asset and for the review period after you've claimed or sold.
- You're carrying forward losses. The records substantiating a loss matter in the year you finally deduct it, however far away that is.
Paper or digital: the shoebox is optional.
The ATO accepts electronic records on equal footing with paper, and accepts a scan or photo in place of the paper original provided it's a true and clear reproduction. The conditions: the copy must stay readable and accessible for the full retention period, be backed up, be protected from alteration, and, if encrypted, be something you can actually open for the ATO on request. Meet those and you can generally dispose of the paper for tax purposes. Given that thermal receipts fade to blank within months, digitising early isn't just tidier; it's often the only way the record survives five years at all.
The $82.50 line.
The threshold that matters day to day: to claim a GST credit on any purchase over $82.50 including GST, you must hold a valid tax invoice when you lodge the BAS claiming it. At or under $82.50, a lesser record (receipt, docket, or a note of the supplier, date, amount and what you bought) is enough. If a supplier hasn't given you a tax invoice, you're entitled to ask, and they're required to provide one within 28 days of the request.
Why the four-year windows make records valuable.
Five years of storage lines up neatly with the four-year windows that decide real money. Unclaimed GST credits generally expire four years after the due date of the BAS they first belonged on. A credit is only as claimable as the tax invoice you can produce for it. And if you ever need to fix a BAS mistake, the correction rules lean on the same period of review: your working papers are what prove a correction stayed within the limits. Good records aren't compliance theatre; they're the receipts, literally, for money you're owed.
A system that survives an ATO review.
- One home per record type. A single drive folder (or software inbox) for purchase invoices, another for issued invoices, per financial year. Scattered is how records die.
- Capture at the moment of purchase. Photograph receipts the day you get them. The habit takes seconds and beats every quarterly catch-up session ever attempted.
- Reconcile to the bank, quarterly. If every bank line ties to a record, your BAS is a summary job, not an investigation.
- Back it up off-device. "Readable and accessible for five years" includes the year your laptop doesn't survive.
- Keep the why, not just the what. A one-line note on anything unusual (private-use split, a GST-free classification) is the difference between an answer and a shrug three years later.
Quick answers.
How long do I need to keep business records for GST?
Five years, generally counted from when you prepared or obtained the record, or completed the transaction it relates to, whichever is later. Some records need longer: anything feeding an assessment that's still within its period of review or under dispute, records for depreciating assets you still hold, and employee records, which Fair Work rules require you to keep for seven years.
Can I throw out paper receipts once I've scanned them?
Generally yes, for tax purposes. The ATO accepts digital records in place of paper originals provided the copy is a true and clear reproduction: readable, backed up, protected from alteration, and accessible for the full five years. If your records are encrypted, you must be able to give the ATO access. Thermal-paper receipts fade within months, so scanning them early is safer than keeping the paper anyway.
Do I need a tax invoice for every purchase to claim GST credits?
Only for purchases over $82.50 including GST: below that you can claim the credit with a lesser record such as a receipt, cash register docket or invoice showing what you bought and from whom. Over $82.50, no tax invoice generally means no credit, so chasing missing tax invoices is worth the email.
Do I need accounting software to keep GST records?
No. The ATO doesn't mandate any software: a spreadsheet, a well-organised folder of scanned invoices, or even paper files meet the rules as long as the records are complete, unaltered, in English and kept for five years. The ATO's record-keeping evaluation tool and its online services are free to use. Software earns its fee on volume: once you're lodging a BAS every quarter, having the figures fall out automatically usually beats an evening of spreadsheet archaeology.
What happens if I can't produce records the ATO asks for?
The burden of proof sits with you, not the ATO. GST credits claimed without the required tax invoice can be denied, income can be re-estimated from bank data, and failing to keep or produce records can attract administrative penalties. In practice the most common cost is quieter: credits you were genuinely entitled to, lost because the paperwork can't be found within the four-year claim window.
Related guides: Tax invoice requirements · What is a BAS? · Fixing BAS mistakes · How GST credits work · Cash vs accrual GST · Closing your business · GST on entertainment expenses
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