How long should you keep bank statements
Updated 2026-08-19
The honest answer is longer than you think for business records and shorter than you fear for everyday personal ones. The specific number depends on what the statement is evidence of.
General guidance
These are common practice rather than legal advice, and your jurisdiction and circumstances govern:
- US personal tax records: commonly three years, longer where substantial under-reporting is possible
- US business records: seven years is the widely used standard
- UK self-assessment: at least 22 months after the tax year end, and five years for the self-employed
- UK limited companies: six years from the end of the accounting period
- Property purchase and improvement records: keep until well after the asset is sold
Keep the PDF, not just the export
A CSV is a working file. The statement is the document with the bank's identity, the account details and the period on it, and that is what a revenue authority, a lender or an auditor asks to see.
Archiving so it stays usable
Download statements as they are issued rather than trusting online availability, name files consistently with the year, month and account, and keep an encrypted backup. Banks close access to closed accounts, sometimes with little notice.
Disposing safely
Statements carry account numbers, balances and counterparties. Shred paper, and delete digital copies from backups and cloud sync folders rather than only from the visible directory.