Throwing away receipts in 2027: Which records you can safely discard

In short: From 1 January 2027 you may discard Swiss business books and receipts from the 2016 financial year, because the 10-year retention period under Art. 958f of the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR) only starts at the end of the financial year. In Germany, booking receipts from 2018 and earlier may go (8 years), books and annual accounts from 2016 and earlier (10 years). In Austria it is records from 2019 and earlier (7 years).

Every January the same question comes up: which folders in the cellar can finally go into the recycling? The answer depends on three things: the country, the type of document and whether you run a business or are a private person. The most common mistake is counting from the date on the receipt instead of from the end of the year in which it was issued.

This article shows which years you may discard in 2027 in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, where the exceptions are and how to make sure you do not throw away anything you might still need.

How do you calculate the retention period correctly?

The period does not start on the receipt date but at the end of the financial or calendar year. A till receipt from 3 March 2016 and one from 28 December 2016 therefore run for the same time: both belong to 2016, and the period starts on 31 December 2016.

For Switzerland the calculation looks like this:

1. Determine the year of the receipt: 2016.
2. The period starts at the end of the financial year: 31 December 2016.
3. Add 10 years: it ends on 31 December 2026.
4. You may discard it from: 1 January 2027.

If your company has a different financial year, for example 1 July to 30 June, the period starts on the last day of that financial year. For most sole traders and small companies, though, the financial year is the calendar year.

Which receipts can you throw away in Switzerland in 2027?

If you run a business, you may destroy the books and booking receipts of the 2016 financial year from 1 January 2027. The legal basis is Art. 958f para. 1 OR: books, booking receipts, the annual report and the audit report must be kept for 10 years from the end of the financial year.

For self-employed people the same applies for tax purposes. Art. 126 para. 3 of the Federal Direct Tax Act (DBG) requires self-employed people to keep their books, statements and related receipts for 10 years. For VAT, Art. 70 of the VAT Act (MWSTG) requires records to be kept until the tax claim becomes absolutely time-barred, which is 10 years after the end of the tax period. Records relating to real estate (input tax correction and own use) must even be kept for 20 years under Art. 70 para. 3 MWSTG.

The details, including how records may be kept, are in the article on the Swiss retention obligation.

Which receipts can private persons in Switzerland throw away?

As a private person you have no statutory retention obligation, but you carry the risk of not being able to prove a deduction. The tax office can ask for receipts (Art. 126 para. 2 DBG), and supplementary tax proceedings (Nachsteuer) can be opened up to 10 years after the end of the tax period (Art. 152 para. 1 DBG).

That is why the practical rule is to keep receipts for tax return deductions for around 10 years as well. In January 2027, whatever belongs to the 2016 tax return can usually go. Exceptions:

• Keep invoices for value-adding investments in a property until the property is sold and the property gains tax (Grundstückgewinnsteuer) has been assessed.
• Keep purchase receipts for warranty claims at least as long as the warranty runs.
• Keep receipts relating to an ongoing procedure with the tax office until it is closed.

What private persons should sensibly keep is covered in Keeping receipts as a private person.

What can you discard in Germany and Austria in 2027?

Since 1 January 2025, Germany has three periods under § 147 para. 3 of the Fiscal Code (AO): 10 years for books, annual accounts and inventories, 8 years for booking receipts and 6 years for commercial and business letters. Each period starts at the end of the calendar year (§ 147 para. 4 AO). In Austria, § 132 of the Federal Fiscal Code (BAO) sets a period of 7 years.

Germany has two catches. First, the period does not end as long as the documents matter for a tax whose assessment period is still open (§ 147 para. 3 sentence 5 AO), for example during an ongoing tax audit. Second, the reduction to 8 years does not apply to banks, insurers and investment firms; they stay at 10 years. In Austria, the periods for documents relating to real estate are extended to up to 22 years under § 18 para. 10 of the Austrian VAT Act.

The background to the German reduction is explained in Retention periods in Germany, and the Austrian rules are in Receipts in Austria.

Can you throw away paper receipts right after scanning?

In Switzerland, in principle yes, if your digital archive meets the requirements of the Ordinance on Business Records (GeBüV). Art. 958f para. 3 OR allows electronic storage, provided the records can be made readable at any time and match the underlying transactions. On alterable media such as hard drives or cloud storage, Art. 9 GeBüV additionally requires that integrity is technically secured, the time of storage can be proven and the procedure is documented.

In everyday terms: a phone photo on its own is not yet an audit-proof archive. A clean PDF scan, one export per year, an unalterable archive (or an accounting system that meets these requirements) and a short description of how you file get you close to the rules. If in doubt, check with your Treuhänder (the Swiss term for an accountant or trustee) whether the paper may go. In Germany, replacement scanning is governed by the GoBD; see GoBD and replacement scanning.

A practical routine: photograph every receipt with Belego; the app saves it as a PDF and reads the amount, date and merchant. At year end, export the whole year as a ZIP with every PDF, a CSV list and a README, and put that package into your archive. After ten years you then have exactly one folder per year to delete instead of a cellar full of faded thermal receipts.

How do you dispose of records safely?

Shred old receipts rather than putting them in the recycling. Receipts and invoices often contain names, addresses, parts of card numbers and shopping habits.

A short checklist for January 2027:

1. Check the year: has the period really expired for every document from that year?
2. Pull out the exceptions: real estate, running warranties, open procedures, records with a longer VAT period.
3. Check the digital archive: is that year readable and complete in case you need it after all?
4. Shred the paper or hand it to a document destruction service.
5. Delete the expired year from the digital archive too, if you no longer need it.

Note: This article is general guidance, not tax advice. What counts is the law, the official guidance and the information from your tax authority or your Treuhänder.

Frequently asked questions

When can I throw away receipts from 2017?

In Switzerland from 1 January 2028, because the 10-year period for the 2017 financial year ends on 31 December 2027. In Germany, booking receipts from 2017 could already be discarded from 1 January 2026, because only 8 years have applied since 2025. Books and annual accounts from 2017 must stay there until the end of 2027.

Do employees in Switzerland have to keep receipts for 10 years?

Not by law, but it is advisable. The tax office can ask for receipts for your deductions, and supplementary tax proceedings are possible up to 10 years after the tax period. Without a receipt you can no longer prove the deduction. Digital copies as PDF are usually enough for this.

Does the period run from the invoice date or from year end?

From the end of the financial or calendar year in which the receipt was issued. That applies in Switzerland (Art. 958f OR), Germany (§ 147 para. 4 AO) and Austria (§ 132 BAO). An invoice from January and one from December of the same year can therefore be discarded on the same day.

What happens if I throw away receipts too early?

If business receipts are missing in an audit, the tax office can estimate the figures, disallow deductions or refuse input VAT recovery. For private persons, the deduction is lost in case of doubt. If you are unsure, keep a year one year longer; digitally it hardly takes up any space.