What Records Do I Need to Keep for Tax in Australia?

Reference ID: 2605SN01 By Mark Walmsley — Chartered Accountant | Registered Tax Agent | TPB 25498770

For an Australian individual tax return, you need to keep records of every dollar of income you earn and every deduction you intend to claim. That covers seven categories: income, work-related expenses, motor vehicle use, working from home hours, self-education costs, donations, and any asset purchases that affect depreciation or capital gains. Records must be retained for five years from the date you lodge your return — longer for capital gains records and depreciating assets.

Here is the short list, by category.

Income records

• Your STP income statement from each employer
• Pension and government allowance statements
• Bank interest statements
• Dividend and managed fund statements
• Rental property agent statements and rent received records
• Invoices issued, if you earn business or contractor income
• Crypto exchange transaction histories

Work-related expense records

• Receipts or tax invoices for every work-related purchase
• Bank or credit card statements that match the receipts
• Membership renewal notices for unions and professional associations
• Subscription receipts for industry publications, software and services that are connected to your work

If your total work-related claims are under $300 for the year, you do not need written evidence for each individual item. The moment you cross $300, every claim needs to be substantiated.

Motor vehicle records

• A 12-week logbook (if using the logbook method)
• Fuel, rego, insurance, servicing, tyre and depreciation records
• A reasonable basis for kilometres claimed (if using cents-per-km)

Working from home records

• A contemporaneous log of WFH hours — diary, spreadsheet or app
• At least one bill in your name for each running cost the claim covers (electricity, gas, internet, mobile)
• Receipts for any home-office equipment

Self-education records

• Course enrolment confirmation and fee receipts
• Textbook and stationery receipts
• Travel records to and from study

Donation records

• Receipts from registered Deductible Gift Recipients (DGRs)
• Workplace giving entries appear on your STP statement and do not need separate receipts

Asset and capital gains records

• Purchase contracts, settlement statements and brokerage notes
• Sale records when you eventually dispose of the asset
• Quantity surveyor depreciation schedules for rental properties

How long do I have to keep them?

Five years from the date you lodge the return. Longer for capital gains records (five years after the asset is sold) and for depreciating assets (five years after the asset is fully depreciated or sold). When in doubt, do not throw it out — digital storage costs nothing and the ten-year-old receipt that nobody can find is what tax disputes are made of.

What counts as a valid record?

Anything that shows what was bought or earned, when, how much, and from whom. Photos of receipts are fine. Scanned PDFs are fine. App-based logs are fine. The ATO does not require paper. It requires content that is clear, complete, unaltered and easily retrievable.

The simplest way to keep them

Stop herding receipts into a shoebox. The free GoTax Deduction Grabber app lets you photograph each receipt the moment you get it, tag what it was for, and stores it in your account ready for tax time. When you lodge your return through GoTax — either a Quick Tax Return from $25 or a Full Tax Return — those records flow straight in. No shoebox. No October scramble. No missed deductions.

For the full breakdown by audience — employees, sole traders and investors — the EOFY Records Hub covers every category in detail. Common follow-up questions are answered in our FAQ.

About the author

Mark Walmsley is a Chartered Accountant and Registered Tax Agent with thirty-two years of Australian tax practice experience. He is the principal author of GoTax tax content and the Registered Tax Agent responsible for every return lodged through the GoTax platform. Mark holds a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) and a Graduate Diploma of Taxation, and is registered with the Tax Practitioners Board under registration number 25498770. Read more about Mark and the GoTax team at About GoTax.

This content is general in nature. Individual tax circumstances vary — contact GoTax or a registered tax agent for advice specific to your situation. ATO references should be checked against the current ATO guidance at the time you read this. External link: ATO — records you need to keep.