Guides

How long do you need to keep receipts in Canada?

The six-year rule, counted correctly. It's not six years from the receipt date. Plus: whether photos of receipts are acceptable to the CRA, why card statements aren't enough, and what happens in an audit without receipts.

How long to keep tax documents in Canada

Six years, for almost everything. The part that catches people is when the six years start: not the date on the document, but the end of the last tax year it can still affect. A table by document type, and the two rules that genuinely differ.

Why do receipts fade, and how do you keep them readable?

Thermal receipts are printed with heat, not ink, and the image literally un-reacts over time. What speeds it up (sunlight, hot cars, tape, plastic sleeves, sanitizer), how long receipts really last, and what actually preserves them.

Receipt turned black

Heat developed the whole strip, most often a car in the sun. Why it happens, why more heat makes it worse, whether anything can be recovered, and how to keep the expense claimable when the paper is beyond saving.

How to read a faded receipt

Faint text is an imaging problem and usually solvable with light and contrast. A blackened strip is not. How to tell which you have, what to try in order, why heat makes it worse, and how to rebuild the evidence when the paper is beyond saving.

A receipt system for sole proprietors that actually sticks

Which receipts you actually need (home office, vehicle logbook, 50% meals, phone), why DIY systems collapse by April, and a four-rule system built around one habit: capture at the counter.

Does the CRA accept a photo of a receipt?

Yes, with conditions. What makes a receipt image acceptable, when you can recycle the paper original, and what GST/HST input tax credits need to see in the shot.

How long do you need to keep utility bills in Canada?

Claimed on a return (home office or rental): six years from the tax year end. Never claimed: no CRA rule at all. The dual answer, with sources.

How to categorize receipts for Canadian taxes

You do not need accounting software: a short label set that maps onto the CRA's T2125 expense lines, applied at capture, covers almost every sole proprietor. With the table.

Can you throw out paper receipts after scanning?

Yes: a properly imaged receipt becomes the permanent record. The CRA checklist to run before the paper hits the recycling bin, and why no permission form is needed.

Best free receipt scanner app in Canada

Almost every app is free to download; few are free to use. Where the meter starts (scans, exports, backups) and what to check before trusting the word free.

The best way to keep receipts for Canadian taxes

An honest buyer's guide: how to choose, an even-handed comparison of the main receipt and accounting apps, and where a free photo-keeper fits versus full accounting.

Switching receipt apps: keep your old records, move in an afternoon

Export your reports first, keep them as your archive for past years, and bring current receipts into Bagging through the photo library, up to 100 at once. A step-by-step recipe for moving in an afternoon.