How long to keep receipts in Switzerland: the 10-year rule explained
Receipt retention in Switzerland: who must keep receipts for 10 years, when the period starts, what digital storage must satisfy (Art. 958f CO, GeBüV, VAT Act) and how to do it in practice.
In short: receipt retention in Switzerland means keeping accounting records for 10 years, counted from the end of the financial year in which the receipt was created (Art. 958f of the Code of Obligations). It applies to everyone who has to keep books: companies, self-employed people and associations subject to bookkeeping. Accounting vouchers may be stored digitally as long as they are unaltered, readable at any time and accessible within a reasonable period. Only annual reports and audit reports must stay on paper in the original.
Ten years is a long time. If you start a business in 2026, you must be able to produce the receipt for your first laptop until the end of 2036. On paper that means folders, shelves, moving boxes and eventually a faded till receipt with nothing left on it. Digitally it means a PDF that still has to exist and be readable in ten years.
This article explains who must keep receipts in Switzerland, how the 10 years are counted, what the law requires of digital storage and how to handle it day to day without an archive room.
Who has to keep receipts for 10 years?
The retention duty applies to everyone who is obliged to keep books under Art. 957 of the Code of Obligations (CO, or OR in German): sole proprietorships and partnerships with turnover of CHF 500,000 or more in the last financial year, and all legal entities, meaning GmbH, AG, cooperatives, and registered associations and foundations. Smaller sole proprietorships below that threshold only record income, expenses and assets, but still have to keep their receipts.
The reason is in tax law: Art. 126 para. 3 of the Federal Direct Tax Act (DBG) requires every individual with income from self-employment to keep their statements and receipts for 10 years. For VAT-registered businesses, Art. 70 of the VAT Act (MWSTG) demands the same. In practice, therefore: if you are self-employed or run a company, you keep records for 10 years, regardless of legal form and turnover.
Private individuals have no statutory retention duty. It still pays to keep receipts for tax deductions, warranties and larger purchases. How long makes sense is covered in keeping receipts as a private person.
What must be kept, and in what form?
You must keep the accounting records, the accounting vouchers, the annual report and the audit report. The law distinguishes two groups with different formal requirements:
| Document | Form | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual report (financial statements, management report) | Written, signed, original | 10 years |
| Audit report | Written, signed, original | 10 years |
| Accounting records (general ledger, journals, subsidiary ledgers) | Paper, electronic or comparable | 10 years |
| Accounting vouchers (invoices, receipts, contracts, bank statements) | Paper, electronic or comparable | 10 years |
Accounting vouchers are all documents that evidence a business transaction: supplier invoices, till receipts, expense receipts, customer invoices, bank statements, payslips, contracts and the related correspondence. The rule of thumb: anything that explains an entry is an accounting voucher.
For this group, Art. 958f para. 3 CO expressly permits electronic storage. The conditions: correspondence with the business transactions must be guaranteed, and the records must be capable of being made readable at any time. The details are set out in the Business Records Ordinance (GeBüV).
When does the 10-year period start?
The period starts at the end of the financial year in which the receipt was created, not on the date of the receipt. A till receipt dated 15 March 2026 belongs to the 2026 financial year, which ends on 31 December 2026. The 10 years run from then and end on 31 December 2036. A receipt from January and one from December of the same year can therefore be disposed of on the same day.
Two exceptions extend the period:
- Property and VAT: documents needed to calculate input tax adjustments and self-supply on immovable property must be kept for 20 years under Art. 70 para. 3 of the VAT Act. This concerns construction and renovation invoices for business premises.
- Pending proceedings: as long as a tax claim is not yet time-barred or proceedings are ongoing, the documents must remain available even after the 10 years have passed.
For practical filing this means: group receipts by financial year and keep one folder or archive per year. Then you can release a whole year each January instead of checking individual documents. A folder structure that supports this is described in filing receipts digitally.
What are the requirements for digital storage?
Digitally stored records must have integrity, be available and be readable, and the process must be documented. The GeBüV lists concrete points:
- Immutability: records must not be changeable after the fact without this being detectable. Permitted are unalterable storage media, or alterable media combined with technical measures that secure integrity (for example digital signatures or timestamps). PDF is a good format for this because it is not designed for editing.
- Availability: records must be viewable and verifiable within a reasonable period, including by an auditor or the tax administration.
- Readability: the data must be capable of being made readable throughout the entire period. That requires a durable format and a backup.
- Due care and documentation: the filing must be traceable, and the organisation must be able to describe how it archives.
For a small business this is less dramatic than it sounds. A receipt stored as a PDF, named by date, merchant and amount, and kept in a backed-up archive meets the requirements in practice. Why PDF is the right format is explained in converting receipts to PDF.
One point many people underestimate: thermal paper. Till receipts fade within months to a few years, often long before the 10 years are up. A paper receipt nobody can read any more is not a receipt. For till receipts, scanning is therefore not just more convenient but the only way to meet the retention period at all.
How do you meet the retention duty in practice?
The easiest approach is to scan every receipt as a PDF when it arises, keep one archive per financial year and back it up in two places. A workflow that works for self-employed people and small companies:
- Scan the till receipt or invoice with your phone right away. Belego automatically stores every scan as a PDF, reads amount, date and merchant, and assigns a category.
- File invoices that arrive as PDFs directly, without printing them.
- At year end, or each quarter, export the whole year as a ZIP: original PDFs with date, merchant and amount in the file name, plus a CSV list with category and note. That ZIP is your archive for the financial year.
- Store the ZIP in two places, for example on an external drive and in storage you control. With Belego, receipts stay on your device; the backup is included in the export, and you decide where it goes.
- Label the folder with the year so that in 2037 you know 2026 can go.
What happens to the paper is a matter of judgement. Many accountants recommend keeping original invoices for large amounts on paper as well, but disposing of till receipts after scanning. If you are VAT-registered, agree the approach with your Treuhänder (the Swiss term for a trustee or accountant); which details a receipt must show for input tax recovery is covered in VAT-compliant receipts in Switzerland. A broader look at bookkeeping and receipts for the self-employed is in self-employed in Switzerland.
Note: this article is general guidance, not tax advice. The law, your canton's guide and the information provided by your tax authority or your accountant are what count.
Frequently asked questions
Can I throw away paper receipts after scanning them?
Accounting vouchers may be kept electronically, provided the scan is complete, unaltered and readable. The paper is then no longer legally required. Exceptions are annual and audit reports, which must remain as signed originals, and documents with their own formal requirements such as certain contracts. If unsure, keep the paper for important invoices and ask your accountant.
Does the retention duty also cover emails and contracts?
Yes, to the extent they evidence business transactions. An email containing an order confirmation or a price agreement is an accounting voucher and belongs in the archive, ideally as a PDF. Contracts that explain entries, such as rental or leasing agreements, likewise. Internal notes and advertising do not need to be kept.
What happens if receipts are missing?
If a receipt is missing, the tax administration can disallow the expense or estimate it at its discretion, and for input VAT the claim lapses without a valid receipt. Systematically missing records can also lead to fines for breaching procedural duties. A single lost till receipt is no disaster; a missing year is.
Do I have to store receipts in Switzerland, or can I keep them abroad?
The Code of Obligations does not prescribe a storage location in Switzerland, but it does require that records be accessible and verifiable within a reasonable period. Cloud storage abroad is therefore not prohibited, but it carries risks regarding access and data protection. Local storage plus your own backup is the safest option.