Yes, HMRC accepts photos and scans of receipts in place of the paper, provided the image is a complete and legible copy that captures all the information on the original, including anything on the back. A few documents must still be kept in their original form, such as CIS payment and deduction statements and import VAT certificates. Scanned records must be kept for the same period as paper ones: at least 5 years after the 31 January filing deadline for the self employed, 6 years for companies and generally 6 years for VAT.

Does the law allow a photo instead of the paper receipt?

For the self employed and partnerships, section 12B(4) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 says the duty to preserve records can be met by preserving them in any form and by any means, or by preserving the information contained in them in any form and by any means. Paragraph 22 of Schedule 18 to the Finance Act 1998 gives companies the same choice for Corporation Tax records. Both are subject to exceptions and to any conditions HMRC sets in writing.

HMRC’s Compliance Handbook at CH13200 says HMRC has not yet specified any such conditions for Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax or Corporation Tax. The conditions that do exist are in VAT notices. So for direct tax the test is the general one set out in CH13100.

What makes a scan or photo good enough?

CH13100 says that if you transfer the information in paper records into electronic form you may discard the paper, provided the storage method can capture all the information needed to make a correct and complete return and reproduce it in a legible form. If it cannot, the original must also be kept. CH13400 adds that originals must be kept unless they have been copied as an exact replica, and that images are acceptable where they are full and complete copies, including any valuable information on the reverse, that can be reproduced legibly.

In practice a good image:

  • shows the whole document, including the supplier’s name, date, description, amount and, for VAT, the supplier’s VAT number and the VAT charged;
  • is sharp enough to read every figure when printed or enlarged;
  • includes the back where something is written there, such as a note of what was bought or terms;
  • is linked to the transaction in the books so it can be found from the ledger entry.

Paper till receipts printed on thermal paper can fade, so capturing them promptly is usually safer than keeping the paper.

Which documents must be kept in the original?

CH13300 lists the documents where the original must be kept, matching the exceptions in section 12B(4A):

  • a written statement of a payment from which income tax was deducted, showing the gross payment, the tax deducted and the amount paid;
  • a payment and deduction statement received under a construction contract, as covered in bookkeeping for CIS deductions;
  • a written statement of a qualifying distribution and tax credit; and
  • records needed to support a claim for relief for foreign tax.

For VAT, Notice 700/21 gives the C79 import VAT certificate as an example of a record that must be kept in its original form.

What extra rules apply for VAT?

Notice 700/21 draws a careful line between a copy and a summary. If you type selected details from a purchase invoice into your software, you must keep the original invoice, because the data in the software is not a copy of it. If your software scans the invoice and the image is retained and contains all the detail required for VAT purposes, you do not need to keep the original unless it is needed for another purpose. A receipt app that keeps only the extracted figures and discards the image would fail that test.

The image also has to be a valid VAT invoice to support input tax. VAT Notice 700 says you must hold valid evidence to reclaim VAT and that invoices must be kept so they can be easily presented to HMRC given the invoice date and supplier’s name. Under Notice 700/21 a retailer can issue a less detailed invoice for supplies of £250 or less including VAT, showing the supplier’s name, address and VAT number, the time of supply, a description, the total payable and the VAT rate. A photo of a card terminal slip that shows none of this is not a VAT invoice. Invoices you receive electronically, such as PDFs, are acceptable evidence provided their authenticity of origin, integrity of content and legibility can be ensured.

How long must scanned receipts be kept?

Taxpayer or record Minimum period
Sole traders and partners At least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline for the tax year
Return sent more than 4 years after the deadline 15 months after the return is sent
Limited companies 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, or longer in some cases
VAT records Generally at least 6 years
Contractor CIS records At least 3 years after the end of the tax year

GOV.UK says company records must be kept longer if they cover a transaction spanning more than one accounting period, relate to an asset expected to last more than 6 years, the Company Tax Return was sent late, or HMRC has started a compliance check. The detail for each type of taxpayer is in record keeping rules for the self employed and company records retention. The minimum periods are not the limit of HMRC’s reach: HMRC can go back further where an error was careless or deliberate.

Does Making Tax Digital change what you keep?

Making Tax Digital is about how the figures are recorded, not about the evidence behind them. HMRC’s guidance on Making Tax Digital for Income Tax says a digital record shows the amount, date and category of each item, and that you still need to keep original records or supporting documents, or copies of them, such as bank statements and invoices. The same guidance says digital records must be kept for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline. A bank feed is not a substitute for the receipt, as explained in bank feeds and bank rules.

What if the app or software is no longer available?

CH13400 says that where records are kept on computer you must be able to convert the data into a legible form on request, and that if a program is upgraded or its licence lapses you must keep the original program or make other arrangements to reconstruct the data. Receipt apps and cloud bookkeeping subscriptions are the modern version of this risk. Before cancelling a subscription or switching provider, export the images and transaction data in a format you can open without the software, and keep that export for the full retention period.

If records are lost anyway, GOV.UK says you must do your best to provide figures and tell HMRC when you file your return if you are using estimated or provisional figures.

What does a failed receipt look like?

Illustration only. A VAT registered decorator photographs a £240 paint receipt but crops it to the total to save space, then bins the paper. The image shows the amount but not the supplier’s VAT number or the VAT charged. Under the rules above, the cropped photo does not contain all the detail required for VAT purposes, so it does not replace the original, and the £40 of VAT reclaimed on it rests on HMRC agreeing to accept alternative evidence. A full image of the receipt would have been enough.

What mistakes come up most often?

  • Cropping images to the total, or photographing only the front of a two sided document.
  • Keeping extracted data but not the image itself.
  • Scanning CIS statements and destroying the originals.
  • Deleting old images when a subscription ends or a phone is replaced.
  • Treating a card terminal slip or bank statement line as a VAT invoice.

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Sources

Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.