CHECKLIST
HMRC Inspection-Proof Records
What to keep, in what form, and for how long. About twenty minutes to audit what you already have, because almost nobody comes unstuck for throwing records away. They come unstuck because what they kept does not prove anything.
- Five sections, thirty-two checks, twenty minutes
- Retention periods that are longer than six years
- What the marketplaces have already told HMRC about you
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Who this checklist is for
Anyone who keeps everything and has never checked whether what they keep would actually stand up, and anyone who has started wondering how much of it they are allowed to throw away.
Sellers with a drawer full of receipts
Most of it can be digital, and the paper can go. What matters is that the copy is legible in six years, complete, and findable. Thermal till receipts fade to blank strips long before the retention period ends.
Anyone who imports stock
Import VAT is reclaimed on a C79 or a postponed VAT statement, never on a courier invoice. The monthly statements are only available online for six months, so they have to be downloaded as they appear.
Sellers whose numbers come off a platform
Since January 2024 marketplaces report your name, address, date of birth, tax reference, bank details and quarterly sales straight to HMRC. A return that does not match that is what starts most checks now.
FACTS
How long you actually have to keep things
Five years after the 31 January deadline for a sole trader, which is nearly six years after the tax year ended. Six years from the period end for a company, six for VAT, and ten if you sell into the EU through One Stop Shop.
32 checks
Five sections
20 minutes
An audit, not a task list
FACTS
Which documents prove tax rather than spending
A bank statement shows money moved. It does not show what was bought or whether there was VAT on it. The checklist sets out what a valid VAT invoice must contain, when a simplified one under £250 will do, and the certificates that still need originals.