Self employment
If you are self employed, you must keep detailed records. The information contained in financial statements and your accompanying tax return must be retained for a minimum of 5 years from the 31 January following the year of assessment.
What type of records should be kept?
You should retain records of:
- all business receipts, e.g. sales, fees etc. when they arise.
- all payments made for stock purchases and day to day business expenditure.
- all purchases and sales of equipment and other assets used wholly or partly for the business.
- all bank statements etc.
- all amounts taken from cash receipts or the business bank account for personal expenditure.
- all personal funds used for meeting business expenses, or paid into the business bank account.
- all goods taken from the business for personal use.
- business and personal mileage in any vehicle used for business purposes. If a car, not owned by the business, is used for business purposes, details of amounts spent on servicing, repairs, fuel etc should be kept. A proportion of these costs should be allowed as a deduction.
Further details are available on the HM Revenue and Customs site.
This page was last reviewed on 03 April 2006. The information may not reflect changes in legislation made after this date.
This is only a guide to your tax position and should not be relied on in place of professional accounting or tax advice. Any calculated figures are illustrative and are based on the data you provided.
