How long must I keep accounting records in the UK, and when can I delete them under GDPR?

Q: How long must I keep accounting records in the UK, and when can I delete them under GDPR?

A limited company keeps its records for 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to; a sole trader for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline of the tax year; payroll records 3 years from the end of the tax year. Until then UK GDPR lets you refuse to erase them, because keeping them is a legal obligation. After that, delete what has no other reason to stay.

Short answer

A limited company keeps its records for 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to; a sole trader for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline of the tax year; payroll records 3 years from the end of the tax year. Until then UK GDPR lets you refuse to erase them, because keeping them is a legal obligation. After that, delete what has no other reason to stay.

The periods, from GOV.UK

Records	Keep for	Source, seen 5 November 2026
Limited company accounts and records	6 years from the end of the last financial year they relate to, longer in some cases	GOV.UK
Sole trader records	At least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline	GOV.UK
VAT records	Generally at least 6 years	VAT Notice 700/21
Payroll (PAYE) records	3 years from the end of the tax year	GOV.UK

A company keeps records longer when a transaction spans more than one accounting period, when it bought something expected to last more than 6 years (equipment, machinery), when the Company Tax Return went in late, or when HMRC has opened a compliance check. A sole trader who files more than 4 years late keeps the records for 15 months after filing.

Worked dates

You	Records for	Delete at the earliest
Ltd, year end 31 March 2026, no late return, no check	Year to 31 March 2026	after 31 March 2032
Ltd, same year, bought a van in that year	The van purchase	longer than 6 years; at least while the company still owns the van
Sole trader, tax year 2025 to 2026, filed on time	2025 to 2026	after 31 January 2032 (deadline 31 January 2027 plus 5 years)
Employer, tax year 2025 to 2026	Payroll for 2025 to 2026	after 5 April 2029

GOV.UK's own example: a 2022 to 2023 return sent online by 31 January 2024 means keeping the records until at least the end of January 2029. The second row is our reading of "longer if the company has bought something that it expects to last more than 6 years"; GOV.UK gives no exact end date for it.

A customer asks me to erase their data. Must I delete their invoices?

No, not while you must keep them. The right to erasure does not apply where processing is needed "for compliance with a legal obligation which requires processing" (UK GDPR Article 17(3)(b)). The tax rules above are such an obligation. What you can and should erase is everything with no legal reason: a newsletter list entry, old quotes that never became a sale, notes. Reply within one month and say which data you keep, why, and until when.

Once the period is over, the reason to keep the records ends too. Keeping everything forever is not the safe choice under GDPR, which expects personal data to be kept "for no longer than is necessary" (storage limitation, UK GDPR Article 5(1)(e)).

Does this change if AI keeps my books?

No. The periods apply to the records, whoever or whatever made them. Two things to check: that your accounting software can export everything in a format you can still open in 6 years, and that a chat history in an AI app is not your only copy of a record. A pasted bank statement in a chat is not a kept record.

In Octobooks every entry and document stays in the audit trail and nothing is deleted: a correction is a reversal plus a new entry. If you want to try the books with AI on one closed month, see is it safe and GDPR compliant to put my accounts into ChatGPT or Claude. This is a general summary, not legal advice.

Sources

Updated 2026-11-05. General information, not tax advice for your own case.