{"id":30810,"date":"2026-08-20T12:43:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T10:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/help-center\/do-i-still-need-to-keep-my-receipts-in-paper-form-in-germany-%f0%9f%87%a9%f0%9f%87%aa\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T17:27:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T15:27:33","slug":"do-i-still-need-to-keep-my-receipts-in-paper-form-in-germany-%f0%9f%87%a9%f0%9f%87%aa","status":"publish","type":"help_center","link":"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/help-center\/do-i-still-need-to-keep-my-receipts-in-paper-form-in-germany-%f0%9f%87%a9%f0%9f%87%aa\/","title":{"rendered":"Do I still need to keep my receipts in paper form in Germany? \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">Legally speaking: Yes, at least in some cases. While a digital copy is usually sufficient, the tax office (Finanzamt) may ask for the original in the event of an audit. \u2696\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">So, make sure to keep your receipts safe! <\/p>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">\n<hr>\n<h2 class=\"font-degular\" id=\"h_9d266a515e\"><b>How long do I need to keep my receipts in Germany?<\/b> \u23f3<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"font-inter\">\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\"><b>Invoices, booking receipts, tax documents<\/b>: 8 years (it used to be 10).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-inter\">\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\"><b>Business letters &amp; other tax-relevant documents<\/b>: 6 years.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">The retention period starts at the end of the calendar year in which the document was created. <\/p>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">\n<hr>\n<h2 class=\"font-degular\" id=\"h_32a097f089\"><b>Document storage<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">\ud83d\udca1 <b>Accountable Tip:<\/b> Save all important tax documents directly in our document repository. This way, you have everything handy, and it\u2019s securely stored. <\/p>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">Feel free to check out our article on this:<br \/>\ud83d\udcc2 <b><a href=\"https:\/\/help.accountable.eu\/en\/articles\/11588322-how-to-use-the-document-repository-feature\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link font-inter\">How to use the Document Repository feature<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\"><b>In practice:<\/b> In most cases, a digital copy will do. However, we still recommend keeping the original receipts safe &#8211; just in case, because better safe than sorry! <\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 class=\"font-degular\" id=\"h_d68f028925\"><b>Do I need to print out all my digital invoices?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">No, you don\u2019t. If you received the invoice digitally, you only need to store it digitally. \ud83d\udcf2<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">\n<hr>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">Don\u2019t hesitate to contact us whenever you have a question<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">at <a href=\"mailto:tax-coach@accountable.eu\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"intercom-content-link font-inter\">tax-coach@accountable.eu<\/a> &#8211; we\u2019re here to help and guide you further. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n<p class=\"no-margin font-inter\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How long do you need to keep your receipts according to German law?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","help_label":[439],"class_list":["post-30810","help_center","type-help_center","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Do I still need to keep my receipts in paper form in Germany? 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