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Keeping records

The self-assessment legislation imposes a basic obligation to keep records for the purposes of delivering a correct and complete return¹. There are time limits for the retention of such records and penalties for non-compliance (see A4.570). For detailed commentary on record-keeping, see E1.205.

For those who carry on a trade, profession or business the records to be kept are specified as²:

'all amounts received and expended in the course of the trade, profession or business and the matters in respect of which the receipts and expenditure take place, and

in the case of a trade involving dealing in goods, all sales and purchases of goods made in the course of the trade.'

Beyond the above, the legislation does not specify the nature of the records to be kept, although HMRC may specify in regulations what records or supporting documents must be kept (supporting documents include accounts, books, deeds, contracts, vouchers and receipts), (see below)³. HMRC has published guidance on this⁴.

Detail

The record-keeping requirements