After one year, it is safe to shred and discard bank statements. It's very important to get rid of any old financial statements in the most secure way possible - shredding or burning them when you can - in order to help you avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.
If you're worried about fraud, we've put together an online resource on how to avoid some of the most common attempts. Bank statements are important because they provide a record of things like payroll deposits, payments and purchases. However, things like ATM receipts can be shredded once you have a monthly bank statement.
If you run a business, for example, this is the amount of time in which the UK government may ask to check your tax records. So, if you have the space, there is no harm in keeping your bank statements forever. The main reason for keeping your bank statements is for tax purposes. If you are a freelancer, a sole trader, or anyone else responsible for their own tax affairs, keeping all of your records relevant to tax for the amount of time recommended by HMRC is crucial.
For personal tax records, 22 months after the 31 January deadline is sufficient. However, if after a given period, they delete them from their system, make sure that you have a saved copy yourself.
Those 22 months are the minimum time for which you should really keep your personal records. However, if you want to be sure, there is no upper limit for how long to keep bank statements. If you have the space to keep them safe, ordered, and out of the way One of the advantages of keeping your bank statements for longer is that you may want to claim for something that was mis-sold to you in the past.
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Trending Decoding your tax bracket Beyond salary: Benefits may matter more than you think 6 steps for first-time tax filers. Personal Banking. Either way, you'll be able to access them for as long as you decide to keep them. If you've used any statements to help calculate your taxes, save them—along with your tax return—for at least seven years, in case the IRS has any questions.
See Experian's guide to storing financial documents for tips on how to maintain them safely and securely. Bank, credit card and investment account statements provide a wealth of information when you're filing your taxes. Use your statements to do the following:. In addition to reviewing your statements annually at tax time, you should go over them monthly throughout the year.
Although you may check your transactions frequently online or by mobile app, your monthly statement is a full accounting of your activity and may show transactions you've previously overlooked.
Look for errors: Double-check that your expected deposits have been credited and that there are no unfamiliar or incorrect transactions that might indicate fraud. If you find an inconsistency or evidence of suspected fraud , contact your bank or card company immediately and make a report. Hang on to any relevant statements until the issue is fully resolved.
Other documents related to your bank, credit card and investment accounts abound. Here are a few types and how long to consider saving them:.
It's possible to access past statements without keeping copies yourself, but you may choose to keep your own statements on file anyway. Your financial institution stores information in their system for multiple years, and may be able to provide you with copies of older statements on request. You can also request past copies of the statements you normally receive by mail, sometimes for a fee, by contacting your bank or card company. The length of time your financial institution will store these records—and make them available to you—varies, so it's a good idea to do a little research on your bank's policy.
Some card companies only provide online statements for the previous 12 months, for example; you may have to do extra legwork or pay for missing statements and wait a few days or weeks to get anything beyond that.
Some banks, including Wells Fargo, retain account statements for up to seven years on checking, deposit, home mortgage, trust and managed investment accounts. At other financial institutions, five years is the norm. If you've used your financial statements to back up information on your tax returns, you may want to keep your own paper or digital copies, rather than relying on the bank to do it.
That way, you can ensure that you have these documents on hand for a full seven years.
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