How long to keep records for

[DieselRob]

Trying to tidy up the office on a wet day like today and just looking to find out if I am required to keep specific types of records for a certain length of time, as useful as it can be to look back at the last 20yrs worth they take up far too much room

Business accounts?
Cropping record?
Sprays/fert/seed inventories?
Livestock records?
SPS claims?

Cheers, Rob

 

[Exfarmer]

Most financial and crop records , I think there is a requirement for 6 years.
It is not a bad idea to keep financial for longer in case there is a tax or other problem down the line. This is particularly true for capital gains tax, but many argue that it is good to keep them away from where a taxman can find them easily, in the distant future , selective recall can be handy
Employers liability certificates should be kept forever

 

[A Farmer]

40 years I was told for Employers liability certificates !

 

[Thick Farmer]

10 years for cow movement records I found out after binning them.

 

[llamedos]

10 yrs for movement
5 yrs for medicines
3yrs for deaths

no idea on the others

 

[B&B Pig Man]

Most financial and crop records , I think there is a requirement for 6 years.
It is not a bad idea to keep financial for longer in case there is a tax or other problem down the line. This is particularly true for capital gains tax, but many argue that it is good to keep them away from where a taxman can find them easily, in the distant future , selective recall can be handy
Employers liability certificates should be kept forever

The problem with keeping financial records longer than required is that if a problem is found, and it works against you, the revenue can go back through all the records you have - if you only have the legal requirement, then that's as far as they can go.
(If that makes sense).

 

[multi power]

having gone to the trouble of keeping them in the first place seems a shame to chuck them, no need to let HMRC know you still have them in the loft

 

[multi power]

thats why if anybody "official" asks i can hardly read or wright

 

[Nearly]

thats why if anybody "official" asks i can hardly read or wright

 

[Y Fan Wen]

My accountant made the comment that you need to keep your accounts as long as you are in business!!

 

[Teejay]

Its great to look back and see how cheap/expensive things were. We have got farm accounts going back to the sixties. Its a shame that there was no crop recording as I only started that in the eighties.

 

[DieselRob]

I suppose my question was directed more at the stock/cropping type records as apposed to the accounts, no intention of hoofing them out as they are quite interesting reading of years gone by. I'm just thinking if I can minimise the quantity of other records it will make my office a whole lot tidier! As an example there are beef cattle movement records from pre 2004 which surely can be disposed of now, we haven't had cattle on the farm in at least 5yrs

 

[Exfarmer]

The other way of doing things would be to buy a decent scanner and file it all electronically. I believe you can get a self lo ading scanner very reasonably today

 

[indigenous]

See Only Fools And Horses, TIME ON THEIR HANDS, Sorry, don't know how to do links