Retention Periods for Receipts, Books and Business Letters in Germany 2025

Anyone who destroys accounting receipts, commercial books or business letters too early risks serious disadvantages in a tax audit. Since the reform under the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act (Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz IV), new statutory retention periods, some of them shorter, apply to companies in Germany, and anyone who still has the old periods in mind should review their filing routines now. Accounting receipts, commercial books, annual financial statements and business letters are all affected, each with its own period.

In brief: Under § 147 AO (the German Fiscal Code, Abgabenordnung), companies must retain accounting receipts for 8 years, books and annual financial statements for 10 years, and commercial and business letters for 6 years. All companies required to keep accounts and self-employed people with recording obligations are affected. Anyone who calculates the periods incorrectly or deletes documents too early risks an estimate of the tax base in a tax audit.

Who is affected by the retention periods?

The retention obligation under § 147 AO in principle affects all merchants, tradespeople and freelancers who are required to keep accounts or records, regardless of legal form or company size. Small business owners and self-employed people who use cash-basis accounting (Einnahmen-Überschuss-Rechnung) must also keep their records for the prescribed periods, because the tax office can request them at any time during a tax audit. The obligation therefore applies not only to large corporations, but equally to sole proprietors, freelancers and small teams that organize their own bookkeeping.

Which periods apply to which documents?

Since the 2025 reform, § 147 AO distinguishes three categories with different retention periods:

Accounting receipts document individual business transactions, books and annual financial statements form the basis of commercial and tax accounting, and business letters comprise the correspondence that prepares, accompanies or concludes a business transaction. For each of these categories, the period runs independently of the others, so a company can have different deletion dates for different document types at the same time.

What do you need to do in practice?

To comply with the periods properly, you should establish a systematic approach instead of sorting or deleting documents by gut feeling. A tool such as Company Audit shows which of these obligations apply to your company specifically.

1. Categorize document types by retention period (receipts 8 years, books/annual financial statements 10 years, business letters 6 years).
2. Set up a filing system, digital or on paper, with clear deletion dates for each category.
3. Determine the start of the period correctly, generally the end of the calendar year of the last entry or of the receipt date.
4. Delete only after the period has expired and after checking for ongoing proceedings, such as a tax audit.
5. Clearly assign internal responsibility for monitoring the periods.

The last point in particular is often neglected in practice: without a clearly designated person, periods go unmonitored until a tax audit is announced and gaps come to light. A simple deadline calendar or a recurring calendar reminder is often enough to avoid missing deletion dates.

Why were the periods changed in 2025?

The shortening is the result of the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act, with which the legislature reduces retention obligations for companies and thus lowers the administrative burden in bookkeeping. For accounting receipts, the period falls from 10 to 8 years, while the periods for books, annual financial statements and business letters remain unchanged.

By when, or how often, do you need to act?

The period is not calculated from the exact issue date of a receipt, but generally from the end of the calendar year in which the last entry was made in the book or in which the receipt date falls. Documents may be deleted only after the full period has expired, and only if no ongoing proceedings such as a tax audit are affected. Review the periods regularly, for example once a year as part of the annual closing, and document which documents are due for deletion and which must be retained because of ongoing proceedings.

What are the consequences of a violation?

If documents are destroyed too early or are not completely available in a tax audit, the tax office may estimate the tax base. In practice, such an estimate rarely turns out in the company's favor. In case of doubt, you should therefore keep documents a little longer rather than delete them too early, because the burden of proof lies with you as the business owner.

Frequently asked questions

Who must comply with the retention periods under § 147 AO?

All companies required to keep accounts, as well as tradespeople and freelancers with recording obligations, are affected, regardless of legal form or size.

How long must accounting receipts be retained?

Since the 2025 reform, the period for accounting receipts is 8 years; previously it was 10 years.

When does the retention period start to run?

Generally at the end of the calendar year in which the last entry in the book or the receipt date falls.

Do the shortened periods also apply to older documents?

No. The shortened periods apply only to documents from the entry into force of the 2025 reform. For older documents, you should check the periods that applied previously.

What happens if I destroy documents too early?

In a tax audit, an estimate of the tax base is a risk if documents are missing or were deleted too early.

Source: § 147 AO. This article is general information and does not replace legal advice in individual cases. As of: July 2026.