How long do you have to keep business records?

Every business owner eventually asks the same question: can I throw this out yet? The honest answer depends on what "this" is. Most day-to-day records follow a straightforward rule, but a handful of documents need to survive far longer — sometimes for the life of the corporation. Here's how CRA's retention rules actually work.

The general six-year rule

The default rule is straightforward: keep your business records for six years from the end of the last tax year to which they relate. This covers the bulk of what a typical business generates — invoices, receipts, bank and credit card statements, payroll records, contracts, and the supporting working papers behind your T2 and GST/HST filings. If CRA reviews an earlier year, having the documentation ready is what turns a routine inquiry into a non-event.

Records that need to be kept longer

A few categories fall outside the standard clock entirely:

• Corporate minute book records. Articles of incorporation, share registers, and director and shareholder resolutions and minutes document the corporation's legal history, not a specific tax year — these should generally be kept for as long as the corporation exists, and often beyond.
• Capital asset history. The cost, additions and disposal details of capital assets are needed to calculate the gain or loss whenever the asset is eventually sold, which could be many years after it was purchased. Keep this history from acquisition through disposal, plus the standard retention period after that.
• Records tied to an active CRA matter. Anything relevant to an ongoing audit, objection or appeal should be kept until that matter is fully and formally resolved, even if it stretches well past the usual period.

Electronic records are acceptable

CRA doesn't require paper. Records kept electronically are acceptable as long as they're complete, legible, and stored in a system with reasonable backup and security — scanned receipts are fine if the image is clear and captures the full document. Once a record has been properly and reliably imaged, the paper original generally doesn't need to be kept. This is exactly why we move client documentation through secure email and e-signature rather than physical paperwork — it's both more efficient and fully CRA-acceptable.

Closing a business

Winding down or dissolving a corporation doesn't stop the retention clock. Records generally still need to be kept for six years from the end of the tax year in which the business ceased operating, and the permanent-type records — the minute book, capital asset history — should be retained by whoever takes responsibility for the corporation's final matters, since CRA can still review a dissolved corporation's affairs after the fact.

CRA's power to require longer retention

CRA can direct a taxpayer in writing to keep records for a period beyond the standard rule — most commonly while an audit, objection or appeal is ongoing. If you receive a request like this, the safest approach is to retain everything named until CRA confirms in writing that the records may be destroyed, even if that stretches well past six years.

A practical retention system

In practice, the easiest system is to digitize source documents as they arrive, organize the six-year items by tax year so they're easy to purge on schedule, and keep the permanent-type items in a separate folder that's never touched during a routine cleanup. We build this structure into our bookkeeping process for clients so nothing gets discarded too early.

The bottom line

Recordkeeping isn't just a filing cabinet problem — it's what protects you if CRA ever has questions years after the fact. Know which documents follow the six-year rule and which need to be kept indefinitely, and build a system that makes the distinction automatic rather than something you have to remember under pressure.

This article is general information for Canadian business owners and is current as of July 2026. It is not tax, legal or accounting advice, and it does not create a client relationship. Tax rules change and your situation is unique — please speak with a CPA before acting on anything here.

About the author

Sunny Dhillon, CPA

Founder of EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm, and a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC). Sunny works with incorporated contractors and small business owners across Canada on tax, bookkeeping and advisory. More about Sunny →