Can you throw out paper receipts after scanning?

Short answer: yes. Once a receipt is imaged properly, the CRA treats the image as the permanent record, and the paper can be recycled. The conditions live in the CRA's imaging guidance, and they are a checklist, not a judgment call.

Where the permission comes from

The CRA's electronic record-keeping rules state that paper documents imaged in line with the national imaging standard "become the permanent records," after which the paper originals may be destroyed (CRA: acceptable format and imaging paper documents; the governing publication is IC05-1, Electronic Record Keeping). This is not a loophole; it is the designed path. The image replaces the paper.

The checklist before the paper goes

• The whole receipt is in frame. Not just the total: the vendor, date, and amounts all readable.
• The tax details survive. For GST/HST input tax credits, purchases of $100 or more must show the supplier's GST/HST registration number (CRA: records for input tax credits). If the shot cuts that line off, reshoot before you shred.
• It is legible at full zoom. A faithful, legible reproduction is the standard; a blurry image fails it.
• It is stored somewhere that survives. The image has to be findable six years from the end of the tax year, so a camera roll that gets pruned is a risk, not a system.

One distinction worth knowing

Replacing paper with a proper image is not "destroying records early." Destroying the record itself before the six years are up requires the CRA's written permission (Form T137). Shredding paper after imaging it properly needs no permission at all, because the record still exists: it is the image now.

The takeaway

• Image it properly, check the checklist, and the paper can go.
• The image then carries the full six-year duty the paper had.
• Thermal paper fades anyway; the photo was always going to outlive the slip.

Common questions

Can you throw out paper receipts after scanning them in Canada?

Yes. The CRA states that paper documents imaged in line with the national imaging standard become the permanent records, after which the paper originals may be destroyed. The image must be a faithful, legible reproduction showing the vendor, date, and amounts.

Do you need CRA permission to shred scanned receipts?

No. Written permission (Form T137) is only required to destroy a record itself before the six-year window ends. Once a receipt is properly imaged, the image is the record, so shredding the paper is not early destruction.

What must the scan show before the paper can go?

The whole receipt, legible at full zoom: vendor, date, and amounts, and for GST/HST input tax credit claims of $100 or more, the supplier's GST/HST registration number. If any of that is cut off or blurry, reshoot before shredding.

How long do you keep the scanned image?

Six years from the end of the last tax year it relates to, the same duty the paper carried. Store it somewhere it will still be findable in year six.