Office Organizing Tips Number 1
It’s funny how many people in business for themselves do not know what records they need to keep for legal or taxation requirements and what they can throw away.
For taxatation purposes, if you claim something as a tax expense you must keep your written records evidence for the minimum period required by the tax office in your country. If not, then you need to think why you are keeping it. In the United States, the IRS stated that if you file a claim for credit or refund after you file your return, you need to keep the records for 3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. In Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency stated that you should keep supporting documents for six years. In Australia, you need to keep your records for five years and in the UK, it’s six years.
Other important documents such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate are definite keepers, as are title deeds, bond and share certificates. Thereafter, general categories should be kept to a minimum, and if it will go out of date or can be found on the web - BIN IT!