Annual P60s......does anyone keep their's

[Alex321]

I declared myself self employed for 1 year, back in 2003/04.
Every year since then, the brown envelope drops through my door in May, telling me that I need to do a self assessment tax return for the previous year. And every year I promise myself to have it done by the end of May, and every year I leave it until a week before the 31st January deadline .
So yes, I keep P60's for about 10 years.

You need to tell them that all your income now comes from PAYE, and they will happily then take you off self-assessment.

I worked as a Freelancer, as director of my own limited company for about 10 years, which put me firmly in the self-assessment category. About 2 years after taking up a permanent job again, I closed the company, and told HMRC, and I haven't filled in a self-assessment form since then.

 

[oldwheels]

It tells you somewhere how long you have to keep P60s. Somebody earlier has suggested 6 years which sounds right.
I keep all my medical records as I need them from time to time. Need to know a variety of things for Blue Badge applications for example.

 

[PaulSB]

I am 75 and been retired 12 years.
In that time no one has ever asked about my p60 details.
Any tax I pay is taken at source.
I am now inclined to just shred them. What think you ?

When I retired I cleared out decades of tax stuff and now keep 7 years worth which I believe is how far back HMRC can investigate if they wish.

It's worth doing. I've been investigated by HMRC, it's a bloody nightmare.

 

[a.twiddler]

I'm a bit like you, retired, never have to do a tax return, so I keep them somewhere in the house, but where I don't know.

One thing I've started to do for hospital appointment letters for me and the OH, is to create a WhatsApp group and take a photo of the letter and thus stored in WhatsApp. This thead has made my think - I'm going to set up another group for "Finance" and store such documents in there. The paper copies I'll probably stuff in a drawer somewhere and then forget where they are.

WhatsApp is now owned by Facebook who have a poor record for customer confidentiality. Even though I transferred to Signal which is what WhatsApp used to be I would be wary about putting sensitive stuff there.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I'm a bit like you, retired, never have to do a tax return, so I keep them somewhere in the house, but where I don't know.

One thing I've started to do for hospital appointment letters for me and the OH, is to create a WhatsApp group and take a photo of the letter and thus stored in WhatsApp. This thead has made my think - I'm going to set up another group for "Finance" and store such documents in there. The paper copies I'll probably stuff in a drawer somewhere and then forget where they are.

Be aware if you have WhatsApp backing up to Google Drive or iCloud, that those backups are not ncrypted.

 

[Smokin Joe]

You are supposed to retain them for 6 years, as evidence if the taxman comes calling.

Only if you're self employed.

 

[Dave7]

Only if you're self employed.

And what if I wasn't self employed (which I wasn't).
If it helps, all my P60s relate to pensions.

 

[vickster]

And what if I wasn't self employed (which I wasn't).
If it helps, all my P60s relate to pensions.

But do you do self assessment?
it’s one piece of paper a year, not too much to store (or scan)

 

[bikingdad90]

When I retired I cleared out decades of tax stuff and now keep 7 years worth which I believe is how far back HMRC can investigate if they wish.

It's worth doing. I've been investigated by HMRC, it's a bloody nightmare.

If you’ve been a naughty person and deliberately concealed and not cooperated they have the power to go back up to 30 years in their investigation!

The usual standard is 7 years but for some VAT things it’s 20 years.

 

[PaulSB]

If you’ve been a naughty person and deliberately concealed and not cooperated they have the power to go back up to 30 years in their investigation!

The usual standard is 7 years but for some VAT things it’s 20 years.

In my case a routine inspection found a petrol receipt in my business expenses when I drove a diesel car. We proved I accidentally filled my car with petrol instead of diesel - even had an invoice from the main dealer charging for rescue from the motorway and draining the system on the same day!

However HMRC went on to work through two years of business expenses!! Found nothing. Eventually I told the lady she made me feel like a criminal. Heard nothing more after that phone call!

 

[Dave7]

But do you do self assessment?
it’s one piece of paper a year, not too much to store (or scan)

Not needed to do that for many years as they accepted I was never going to earn again.

 

[sheddy]

Keep for a few years.
Essential evidence if you have paid too much tax.

 

[Badger_Boom]

My employer has done them digitally for years now so I can access them at a moments notice if needed. If I ever leave/retire I supose I should make sure I download/print copies just in case.

 

[markemark]

Be aware if you have WhatsApp backing up to Google Drive or iCloud, that those backups are not ncrypted.

There is an option to encrypt the backup but by default it’s off.

 

[T4tomo]

In my case a routine inspection found a petrol receipt in my business expenses when I drove a diesel car. We proved I accidentally filled my car with petrol instead of diesel - even had an invoice from the main dealer charging for rescue from the motorway and draining the system on the same day!

strictly speaking the petrol part wasn't wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the course of business, in fact it was unnecessary!

Its as well to keep everything as HMRC do make mistakes, so you need your own back-up to correct them.