How long to keep business records in Australia: the ATO 5-year rule for tradies and sole traders

Last reviewed 3 November 2026 · Sources linked below · Written by Jay at Andwat Co, an Australian boilermaker/fabricator (Cert III Engineering, 12+ years in the trade). About

How long Australian tradies and sole traders must keep receipts, invoices, BAS and bank records: the ATO 5-year rule and when it starts, assets and CGT records kept longer, 7 years for employee records, digital copies and photos of receipts, and what happens if you can't produce them.

Every tradie has the shoebox, the glovebox full of faded Bunnings dockets, or the phone camera roll mixed in with job photos. Sooner or later the question comes up: how long do I actually have to keep all this? The short version is 5 years for most things, but the clock doesn't always start when you think, and tools, utes and anyone you employ follow longer rules. This guide sets out what the ATO, business.gov.au and the Fair Work Ombudsman say, in plain English.

The short answer

Most business tax records: 5 years. The ATO says the 5 years generally starts from when you prepared or obtained the record, or completed the transaction it relates to, whichever is later.
Tools, plant and vehicles you depreciate: keep the records for as long as you own the asset, plus 5 years after you sell or scrap it.
Capital gains tax (CGT) assets: as long as you own the asset, plus 5 years after you dispose of it. Hold a block of land for 10 years and the records live for 15.
In a dispute with the ATO: the later of 5 years after you lodged or 5 years after the dispute is resolved.
Employee time and wages records: 7 years under the Fair Work rules.
Companies: ASIC requires company records to be kept for 7 years (the ATO flags this on its overview page).

What records a tradie has to keep

business.gov.au lists the records every business must keep. For a sole-trader tradie that means:

Income and sales: every quote that became a job, every invoice you issued, payment receipts and platform or EFTPOS reports.
Expenses, including cash purchases: supplier tax invoices and receipts for materials, consumables, fuel, phone, insurance and subscriptions.
End-of-year records: lists of debtors (who owes you) and creditors (who you owe).
Asset and stock records: what you paid for tools, plant and vehicles, when you started using them, and depreciation workings.
Bank records for your business accounts.
GST records if you're registered: tax invoices for every credit you claim and copies of each BAS.
Fuel tax credit records if you claim them.
Employee and contractor records, including subbie invoices and ABNs (which also feed your TPAR if you're in building and construction).

Where something is used for both work and private purposes, like a ute or a phone, the ATO also wants records that show how you worked out the business portion. For a vehicle that's usually a logbook.

When the 5-year clock starts

This is where people get caught. The ATO's overview of record-keeping rules says the retention period generally runs from when you prepared or obtained the record, or completed the transaction, whichever is later. A few records have their own start dates:

super contributions for employees: 5 years from the date of the contribution
super fund choice records: 5 years from when the employee was engaged, or was offered, chose or changed their fund
fringe benefits tax records: 5 years from when you lodge the FBT return.

The ATO also says you may need to keep a record longer so it covers the period of review for any assessment that relied on it. If an assessment is amended, that period restarts the day after the amended notice. The practical rule: don't bin anything from a tax year until at least 5 years after you lodged that year's return, and longer if the ATO has queried it.

Records you keep for longer than 5 years

Tools, plant, utes and other depreciating assets

For depreciating assets the ATO says you generally keep the records for as long as you have the asset, and then another 5 years after you sell or otherwise dispose of it. That includes the purchase invoice, any set-up costs, the date you started using it, the effective life or rate and method you used, each year's deduction and any private-use reduction, and the sale or disposal details. Assets in a low-value pool have their own rule: generally 5 years from the end of the income year the asset went into the pool.

So the receipt for a welder you bought in 2019 and still use isn't 5 years old in records terms. Its clock hasn't started yet.

Capital gains tax assets

For CGT assets (an investment property, shares, or business assets that aren't depreciating assets) you keep the records for as long as you hold the asset, plus 5 years after disposal. The ATO lets you discard CGT records 5 years after an entry in a certified CGT asset register, if the entry has all the required information, is in English and is certified in writing by an approved person such as a registered tax agent.

If you employ anyone

The ATO's rule for payroll and super records is 5 years. The Fair Work Ombudsman is stricter: employers must keep time and wages records for 7 years. They must be legible, in English, readily accessible to a Fair Work Inspector, and not changed except to correct an error. If you have even one apprentice or casual, plan around 7 years.

Safety records are separate

WHS laws have their own retention rules. For example, records of notifiable incidents must be kept for at least 5 years (see our incident register guide), and SWMS have their own rule (see SWMS for high risk construction work). Keep those in your safety system, not your tax folder.

Paper, photos or software?

All three are fine if they meet the rules. The ATO says records must be in English (or easily converted to English), and stored so they can't be changed or damaged. It accepts digital images of paper records if they're true and clear copies of the originals, and once you've saved a clear image you don't need the paper copy unless another law requires it. That's good news for tradies, because thermal dockets fade.

Photograph receipts the day you get them, before they fade or get wet.
Don't rely on a bank statement alone. The ATO says a bank or card statement isn't written evidence on its own, because it isn't from the supplier and doesn't show what you bought.
Keep the source document even if you've typed the details into accounting software. The ATO's digital record-keeping page says you still need a copy of the actual record.
Back up to a second place, such as cloud storage, and keep the passwords. If you change software or stop paying for it, export each year's records first.
Sole traders with simple affairs can use the free myDeductions tool in the ATO app to record income, expenses and car trips.

What happens if you can't produce records

The ATO says you're accountable for your record keeping even if a bookkeeper, tax agent or BAS agent does the work. Penalties for not keeping or retaining records can be financial, or a direction to complete a record-keeping course. The bigger cost is usually indirect: without a receipt, a deduction or GST credit can be disallowed. On the employment side, Fair Work Inspectors can issue infringement notices, and an employer who didn't keep records may have to prove to a court that they didn't underpay someone.

A simple record-keeping routine for a one-person trade business

Run a separate business bank account so every transaction has a clean trail.
Photograph every receipt on the day and file it by month (or attach it in your software).
Each week, match each bank line to an invoice or receipt and tag it with a category and the GST amount.
Keep an asset list: purchase date, cost, invoice, and the date you sold or scrapped it.
After you lodge each tax return, export that year's records to a folder named for the year and note the earliest date you can delete it (5 years after lodging, or later for assets and disputes).

Quick answers

How long do I need to keep business records in Australia?

Most tax records must be kept for 5 years. The ATO says the 5 years generally starts from when you prepared or obtained the record, or completed the transaction it relates to, whichever is later. Some records must be kept longer.

Which records do I need to keep for longer than 5 years?

Depreciating assets (tools, plant, vehicles) generally for as long as you own the asset plus 5 years after you sell or dispose of it, and capital gains tax asset records for 5 years after disposal. If you're in a dispute with the ATO, keep records for the later of 5 years after lodging or 5 years after the dispute is resolved.

Can I just keep photos of my receipts?

Yes. The ATO accepts digital images of paper records if they are true and clear copies of the original. Once you've saved a clear image you don't need the paper copy unless another law requires it. Back the files up.

Is a bank statement enough evidence for an expense?

Generally no. The ATO says a bank or card statement on its own isn't written evidence because it isn't from the supplier and usually doesn't show what was bought. Keep the supplier's receipt or tax invoice too.

How long do employers keep wage records?

The Fair Work Ombudsman says time and wages records must be kept for 7 years, in English, legible and readily accessible to a Fair Work Inspector. The ATO's own rule for payroll tax records is 5 years, so the 7-year Fair Work rule is the one to plan around.

Sources

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General information only, summarised from the official sources above as at the review date. It isn't legal, tax, WHS or engineering advice. Rules change and your situation may differ, so check the source or ask a professional.