In Canada, you must keep your tax records for at least six years from the end of the tax year they relate to. That is the baseline rule the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) enforces under the Income Tax Act, and it applies to individuals, corporations, and anyone else required to pay or collect tax.1Department of Justice Canada. Income Tax Act RSC, 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.) – Section 230 So records that supported your 2025 return can be destroyed after December 31, 2031. Several situations extend that period, and some records never get a destruction date at all.
When the Six-Year Clock Actually Starts
The clock does not start the day you file, and it does not start on your Notice of Assessment. It starts at the end of the tax year the records relate to. For individuals, that means the calendar year. For corporations, it means the fiscal period.2Canada Revenue Agency. Where to Keep Your Records, for How Long and How to Request the Permission to Destroy Them Early
Six years covers the ordinary case. Nothing more.
Situations That Push the Deadline Later
You Filed the Return Late
If you file a return late, the six-year period runs from the date you actually filed, not from the end of the tax year.1Department of Justice Canada. Income Tax Act RSC, 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.) – Section 230 So a 2022 return filed in 2024 pulls its supporting documents along until 2030 rather than 2028. Every receipt, slip, and statement behind that return moves with it.
You Filed an Objection or Appeal
If you have filed a formal objection or are appealing an assessment, hold onto everything until the latest of three points: the objection or appeal is resolved, the deadline for any further appeal has passed, or the standard six-year period expires.2Canada Revenue Agency. Where to Keep Your Records, for How Long and How to Request the Permission to Destroy Them Early Tax disputes routinely run past the six-year mark, so in practice that means keeping the file until the case is fully closed.
The CRA Told You To Keep Them Longer
The CRA can formally require you to keep records beyond six years if an audit or investigation is underway. A CRA official will notify you in person or by registered mail.2Canada Revenue Agency. Where to Keep Your Records, for How Long and How to Request the Permission to Destroy Them Early Ignoring that notice is not an option.
Property Records: Six Years After You Sell
The retention rule shifts significantly for capital property such as real estate, investments, and corporate shares. Records that establish what you paid for the asset and any improvements you made determine your adjusted cost base, which is the number the CRA uses to calculate your capital gain or loss at sale. You need those records for six years after the tax year you sell or dispose of the asset, not six years after you bought it.3Canada Revenue Agency. Keeping Records
The timeline can be very long. Buy a rental property in 2005, sell it in 2030, and you need those 2005 documents until the end of 2036. Losing the original purchase agreement or renovation receipts across that span can cost real money, because without proof of your cost base the CRA may treat a larger portion of the sale price as taxable gain.
Your Principal Residence
Even when you expect to owe no tax on the sale of your home, you still need the paperwork to support the principal residence exemption. Since 2016, the CRA has required you to report the sale on Schedule 3 and complete Form T2091(IND) to designate the property.4Canada Revenue Agency. Principal Residence – Canada.ca If you file electronically, you are told to keep Form T2091(IND) in case the CRA asks for it later. In practice, keep your purchase agreement, closing documents, and records of major improvements for the entire time you own the home, plus six years after the sale.
Records You Keep Forever
Some records never reach a destruction date. Documents that relate to long-term property acquisitions and disposals, the corporate share registry, or other historical information that would affect the sale, liquidation, or wind-up of a business must be kept indefinitely.2Canada Revenue Agency. Where to Keep Your Records, for How Long and How to Request the Permission to Destroy Them Early Corporate minute books, share transfer records, and anything establishing the history of the company’s ownership structure fall into this category. There is no permission process that lets you destroy these early.
When a Business Closes or a Taxpayer Dies
A dissolved corporation must keep all records and supporting documents for two years from the date of dissolution.2Canada Revenue Agency. Where to Keep Your Records, for How Long and How to Request the Permission to Destroy Them Early A non-incorporated business or organization that shuts down keeps its records for the standard six years from the end of the tax year in which it ceased operations. In both cases, records that must be kept indefinitely are not shortened by these deadlines.
For a deceased taxpayer, the estate or legal representative follows the general six-year rule from the end of the last tax year the records relate to.3Canada Revenue Agency. Keeping Records In practice, the executor needs to keep the deceased person’s records for at least six years after the final return is filed.
Getting Permission to Destroy Records Early
If you want to get rid of records before the six-year period expires, you need written permission from the CRA first. Request it by submitting Form T137 (Request for Destruction of Records) or by writing to your tax services office.2Canada Revenue Agency. Where to Keep Your Records, for How Long and How to Request the Permission to Destroy Them Early Destroying them without permission can lead to prosecution. The permission only covers records required under legislation the CRA administers, so provincial record-keeping obligations may still apply separately.
Where the Records Are Kept Matters
Retention time is only half the requirement. Records must be kept at your place of business or residence in Canada. Records stored on servers outside Canada and accessed electronically from within Canada are not considered to be kept in Canada.2Canada Revenue Agency. Where to Keep Your Records, for How Long and How to Request the Permission to Destroy Them Early Written CRA permission can allow foreign storage, but even then the records must be produced to CRA officials in Canada on request, in a format the CRA’s software can read. If your bookkeeping platform defaults to servers outside Canada, that is worth checking now rather than during an audit.
Electronic records are otherwise accepted, including scanned images, provided they capture the date, vendor, amount, and full description of what was purchased.5Canada Revenue Agency. Your Responsibilities Associated With Records You Must Keep Backup copies should be stored somewhere separate from the originals, so that a fire, theft, or drive failure does not wipe out years of records in a single event.
What Happens If You Don’t Keep Them
The most common cost is quiet and immediate. During an audit, a CRA officer can disallow any deduction or credit you cannot back up with documentation. Missing medical receipt, missing vehicle logbook, missing donation slip — each gap becomes a reassessment, and interest runs on the additional tax from the original due date. Most of the real financial damage from poor record-keeping happens here.
Beyond that, failing to comply with the record-keeping requirements under sections 230 to 232 of the Income Tax Act is a criminal offence. On summary conviction, the fine ranges from $1,000 to $25,000, and the court can add up to 12 months of imprisonment.6Department of Justice Canada. Income Tax Act RSC, 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.) – Section 238 These penalties apply in addition to any other penalty the CRA assesses. They do not replace the tax you owe.