How long to keep receipts (and which ones you can throw away)

In short: Keep receipts for two years when they serve as proof of purchase for a warranty or statutory guarantee, and until your tax assessment is final when they support a deduction. Businesses must keep receipts for ten years in Switzerland and eight to ten years in Germany. Receipts for bread, coffee and toothpaste can go as soon as you have checked the amount.

Most receipts end up in a wallet, then in a drawer, and eventually faded in the recycling. The problem is that the one receipt you need after 18 months for a broken coffee machine is exactly the one you cannot find, or cannot read anymore.

This article explains which receipts to keep for how long, which ones you can bin immediately, and how to store the important ones with minimal effort.

How long to keep receipts?

It depends on what you need the receipt for. Private individuals have no general obligation to keep receipts. There are three situations, however, where you are in a weak position without one.

For the statutory guarantee (Gewährleistung in German), Switzerland applies a period of two years from delivery of the goods (Art. 210 of the Swiss Code of Obligations). Germany and Austria also use two years. Manufacturer warranties can be shorter or longer; the period is usually printed on the packaging or the warranty card. What to do if you have no receipt is covered in Receipts for warranty and returns.

For your tax return, the tax office does not automatically ask for receipts, but it can request them. Keep every receipt that supports a deduction at least until the assessment is legally final. Because the Swiss authorities can open a back-tax procedure up to ten years after the tax period, it makes sense to simply leave digital copies in place. Storage costs nothing. More on this in Keeping receipts as a private person.

For businesses, this is not a recommendation but an obligation: ten years after the end of the financial year in Switzerland (Art. 958f of the Code of Obligations), and in Germany, since 2025, eight years for accounting vouchers and ten years for invoices (§ 147 AO).

Which receipts can you throw away?

You can throw away any receipt where you will neither return the goods nor need to prove the amount to an authority. That covers the large majority of receipts.

• Groceries and drinks, once you have compared the amount with your card statement
• Clothing below the amount at which you would seriously pursue a complaint, once the shop's return period has passed
• Private restaurant visits with no business connection
• Parking fees, coffee on the go, kiosk purchases
• Anything you already have an invoice or an order confirmation for by email

A simple test: if this receipt vanished in a year, would it cost you money? If not, bin it.

Which receipts you should keep

Keep every receipt that proves an item under warranty, a tax deduction or a business expense. The following list covers the typical cases.

1. Electronics, household appliances, tools, bikes, furniture: anything with a guarantee and real value
2. Medication, glasses, dentist, therapies: possible deduction as medical costs
3. Courses, specialist books, exam fees: possible deduction as training costs
4. Donations with a confirmation, contributions to pillar 3a
5. All business expenses, including small ones such as parking or postage
6. Deposits and reservations, until the service has been fully delivered
7. Purchase receipts for items your household insurance would want to see after a claim

For insurance purposes, a photo of the receipt together with a photo of the item is often enough. It takes two minutes and saves long discussions after a claim.

Why paper alone is not enough

A receipt printed on thermal paper is often unreadable after two years. The print is created by heat, and warmth, light, humidity or contact with plastic make it disappear again. A receipt in a wallet that sits in a trouser pocket every day can be pale after a few months.

This is the core problem when you keep receipts: the two-year period is longer than the lifespan of the paper. Why that is and how quickly you should act is explained in Scan paper receipts before they fade.

The solution is a digital copy, made on the day of purchase. A copy of an already faded receipt helps nobody. If it is too late, a few tricks are described in Faded receipt? How to recover it.

How to keep receipts without the effort

The simplest approach is a fixed routine: receive the receipt, photograph it immediately, keep or bin the paper depending on its purpose. The whole process takes under a minute with the right tool.

With Belego you photograph the receipt with your phone camera. The app crops and straightens it and saves the scan as a PDF. Amount, date, merchant and category are read automatically; anything that cannot be read with confidence is left blank for you to fill in by hand. A note such as "warranty until March 2028" makes the receipt findable in seconds later on. All receipts stay on your device, with no account and no cloud.

To stop the pile from forming, a short 5-minute routine works well: once a week, empty your wallet and scan the receipts that serve a purpose. Anything without a purpose goes straight into the recycling.

A few practical rules:

• Photograph the receipt before it goes into your wallet, not in the evening
• For expensive devices, keep the paper anyway, ideally in a folder together with the warranty card
• On long receipts, check that date, merchant and total are legible on the scan
• Make a backup once a year, for example with a ZIP export

Keeping receipts in business: different rules

If you are self-employed or run a company, you must keep every receipt for a business expense, regardless of the amount. The CHF 4.50 parking receipt belongs in the books just as much as the invoice for the new laptop.

In Switzerland, the ten-year retention obligation under Art. 958f of the Code of Obligations applies, and receipts may be stored electronically as long as they remain unchanged and legible. The details are in How long to keep receipts in Switzerland. In Germany, the periods under § 147 AO and the GoBD rules apply, explained in How long to keep receipts in Germany.

In everyday terms: scan business receipts immediately, assign a category, and export everything as a ZIP to your accountant or accounting tool at year end. In Switzerland, it is still wise to keep the paper in a folder until your Treuhänder (the Swiss term for a trustee or accountant) confirms that digital filing is sufficient for your business.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to submit receipts with my tax return?

In Switzerland, you generally do not submit receipts with your tax return unless your canton's guidance requires it for specific deductions. The tax office can request them at any time, though. Keep every receipt that supports a deduction at least until the assessment is final, and ideally keep a digital copy for longer.

Is a photo of a receipt enough as proof of purchase?

For warranty and statutory guarantee claims, a legible photo is usually enough, because what matters is proof of the purchase date, the product and the retailer. Some shops insist on the original, but they cannot strictly demand it if the purchase can be proven another way. For tax purposes, a legible scan is accepted in practice as well.

How long do I need to keep receipts for tradespeople's work?

In Germany, private individuals must keep invoices for work on a property, such as building or repair services, for two years (§ 14b UStG). Switzerland has no such rule, but invoices from tradespeople often document value-preserving investments you will need for property tax purposes or when you sell. Keep them permanently.

Can I keep receipts digitally and throw away the paper?

As a private person, yes, as long as the scan is legible and shows all the details. For expensive devices under warranty, keeping the paper as well avoids arguments. In business, digital filing must meet the requirements of your country; check with your accountant before disposing of paper receipts after scanning.