How long should you keep documents in the UK?

Store rooms fill up because nobody is sure what can go. Keep too little and you may not be able to answer HMRC, a tribunal or a client. Keep too much and you hold personal data longer than the law allows, and pay to store it. A short retention schedule solves both.

The main periods set by GOV.UK

When company records need keeping longer

GOV.UK says company accounting records must be kept longer than 6 years if they show a transaction covering more than one accounting period, relate to an asset expected to last more than 6 years, relate to a late Company Tax Return, or are subject to an HMRC compliance check that has started. Check the company records guidance before clearing anything near the edge.

Payroll has extra rules

The PAYE guidance gives 3 years for payroll records, but notes separate rules for records that prove minimum wage payments and statutory leave and holiday pay. Many employers keep payroll for 6 years to line up with company accounts.

Sector rules

Professional and sector bodies set their own periods. Solicitors’ client files, accountants’ working papers, school pupil records and health and care records all have guidance of their own, often longer than the tax minimums. Use your regulator’s or professional body’s guidance alongside the table above.

Why keeping everything is not the safe option

UK GDPR says personal data should be kept “for no longer than is necessary” for the purpose it was collected (Article 5). A cabinet of CVs from unsuccessful applicants five years ago, or right-to-work copies for people who left three years ago, are personal data held without a reason. GOV.UK’s right-to-work checklist says copies should be securely destroyed once the retention period ends.

Build a simple retention schedule

1. List record types, not individual files: payroll, HR files, client files, invoices, CVs.
2. Set a period for each from the table above and your sector guidance.
3. Name an owner for each type who signs off destruction.
4. Review once a year, pull out what has passed its date, and record what is being destroyed.

The ICO’s records management toolkit expects destruction to follow a retention schedule, with management approval logged before records are destroyed and a log of items awaiting destruction (ICO toolkit).

Then destroy it properly

Once records pass their date, they become confidential waste. A once-a-year clear-out is usually best handled as a single one-off shredding job: count the boxes, book a collection, and keep the certificate of destruction with your approval note. Day-to-day paper belongs in locked consoles on a regular collection.

Budgeting

Published prices for one-off sacks typically run £20 to £40 each, with a minimum charge of around £50 a collection. Our cost estimator works out a rough figure from the number of boxes.

A note on electronic records

Retention periods apply to electronic records too. When old laptops or servers are retired, the drives hold years of documents. Have them destroyed with serial numbers recorded, or erased with verification if they will be reused.

This guide summarises GOV.UK guidance read in November 2026 and is not legal or tax advice. For a full picture of confidential waste disposal rules, see our homepage.

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