The periods, in one table
| Record | Keep for | Law | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households: tax | |||
| The documents behind your tax returnIRP5 or IT3(a), your medical scheme’s tax certificate, retirement annuity certificates, receipts for deductions | 5 years from the date you submitted the return | Tax Administration Act s29(3)(a) | Longer while an audit, objection or appeal is open (s32). If a return is due but not submitted, SARS says to keep the records until it is. |
| Tax records where no return was required | 5 years from the end of the tax period | Tax Administration Act s29(3)(b) | |
| Companies | |||
| Company records the Companies Act or another public regulation requiresAnnual financial statements, reports presented at the AGM, minutes and resolutions of shareholders and directors | 7 years (financial statements: 7 years after they were issued) | Companies Act s24(1), (3)(c)–(f) | Longer where another public regulation sets a longer period. |
| Accounting records | The current financial year and the previous 7 completed financial years | Companies Act s24(3)(c)(iii) | |
| Memorandum of incorporation, with any amendments and rules | For as long as the company exists: the Act says the company must “maintain” a copy | Companies Act s24(3)(a) | Not a seven-year record. |
| Records about each director | 7 years after the person stops being a director | Companies Act s24(3)(b) | |
| Business tax recordsTax invoices, bills of entry and the accounting records behind each return | 5 years from the return; longer during an audit, objection or appeal | Tax Administration Act ss29, 32; SARS guidance for vendors | Kept in their original form or in an electronic form the Commissioner prescribes (s30). Electronic records kept physically outside South Africa need a senior SARS official’s authorisation (s30(2)). |
| Sectional title schemes | |||
| Body corporate books of account and financial records | 6 years after the transactions they record are completed | STSMA Regulations, management rule 26(3) | The prescribed management rules. See body corporate financial records in KuduDoc. |
| Employers | |||
| Each employee’s name and occupation, time worked, pay, and date of birth if under 18 | 3 years from the last entry | BCEA s31 | |
| Written particulars of employment | 3 years after the employment ends | BCEA s29(4) | When employment ends, you issue a certificate of service (s42). |
| COIDA register of wages, time worked, piece work and overtime | At least 4 years after the last entry | COIDA s81 | |
| Anyone holding other people’s personal information | |||
| Personal information about clients, employees, tenants or members | No longer than necessary for the purpose it was collected for | POPIA s14(1) | Unless a law requires or allows longer, it is reasonably needed for a lawful purpose, a contract requires it, or the person agreed. Then destroy, delete or de-identify it so that it cannot be reconstructed (s14(4)–(5)). |
Where two rules cover the same record, plan for the longer period. The Companies Act itself defers to any longer period in another law (s24(1)).
What does a household keep for SARS?
- The five years start on the day you submitted the return, not at the end of the tax year (Tax Administration Act s29(3)(a)). Where no return was required, they run from the end of the tax period (s29(3)(b)).
- What counts: IRP5 or IT3(a) certificates, your medical scheme’s tax certificate, retirement annuity and donation certificates, and the receipts behind any deduction. Keep them with the assessment for that year.
- Open matters: if SARS is auditing you, keep them until the audit is concluded. If you objected or appealed, keep them until that is final (s32).
Records with no set period
Keep the lease, the deposit receipt and the inspection at least until the matter they cover is closed. For a rental deposit, the Rental Housing Act sets refund deadlines in s5(3):
- 7 days after the lease ends, if nothing is owed.
- 14 days after the home is restored, if there are deductions.
- 21 days after the lease ends, if the tenant does not respond to a request to inspect.
Birth and marriage certificates, title deeds and the original of any will stay on paper, for good. Here is a life file for your household: what to keep, and where each original lives.
Dates that end, rather than records you keep: see renewal dates for licences, passports and certificates.
What does a business keep?
A company answers to two sets of rules at once: the Companies Act for its own records, and the Tax Administration Act for the records behind each return. It helps to keep company records in one Library, each with the date its period ends.
Company records: seven years
“for a period of seven years, or any longer period of time specified in any other applicable public regulation”
Most records stay for seven years, and annual financial statements for seven years after they were issued (s24(3)(c)(ii)). Accounting records cover the current financial year plus the previous seven completed years (s24(3)(c)(iii)). Records about a director stay for seven years after that person leaves the board (s24(3)(b)).
The memorandum of incorporation is different: the company must maintain it, with its amendments, for as long as the company exists (s24(3)(a)). A pack lets you keep the company file in one collection: the MOI, the minutes, the financial statements and the certificates a tender asks for.
Tax records: five years, and where they are kept
The records behind each return stay for five years from the date it was submitted, and longer while an audit, objection or appeal is open (Tax Administration Act ss29, 32). That includes tax invoices and bills of entry (SARS). Can’t open a SARS PDF? Open it on your device.
Keep them in their original form, or in an electronic form the Commissioner prescribes (s30). SARS says electronic records kept physically outside South Africa need a senior SARS official’s authorisation (s30(2)).
What does an employer keep?
- The record of each employee’s name, occupation, time worked and pay stays for three years from the last entry (BCEA s31).
- The written particulars of employment stay for three years after the employment ends (s29(4)).
- When the employment ends, you issue a certificate of service (s42).
- The COIDA register of wages, time worked, piece work and overtime stays for at least four years after the last entry (COIDA s81).
When someone leaves, in KuduDoc you close an employee file for the period you set. The file stays in the Library until then, and deletion happens only on your instruction.
How long can you keep other people’s personal information?
POPIA sets no fixed period. Under s14(1) of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, you keep it no longer than you need it for the purpose you collected it for, unless one of four things applies:
- a law requires or allows you to keep it longer;
- you reasonably need it for a lawful purpose;
- a contract between you and the person requires it; or
- the person agreed.
When the period ends: before you shred
Destroy, delete or de-identify the information “in a manner that prevents its reconstruction” (s14(4)–(5)). For paper, that means the shredder, not the bin. For files, it means deleting them from every copy you control.
In KuduDoc you can export your data or ask for deletion at any time.
Can you keep them as scans or PDFs?
Often, yes. Under s16(1) of the ECT Act, a legal duty to keep a record can be met by an electronic record that:
- stays accessible for later reference;
- is in its original format, or one shown to be accurate; and
- shows where it came from, where it went, and its date and time.
For tax records, the Tax Administration Act asks for the original form or an electronic form the Commissioner prescribes (s30).
A sealed scan does not replace a paper original where one is required.
Where does KuduDoc fit?
Keep them in the Library with their dates. Every plan, free Personal included, comes with storage for your records: 5 GB on Personal.
Photograph paper records with your phone and keep the pages as one PDF. Seal the finished file, and anyone can later check that it is unchanged since sealing.
Put a date on any record, such as the day a five-year period ends. KuduDoc emails you before it: 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before, by default — or the days you choose. KuduDoc does not delete a record because a period has ended.
Collection Lerato Mokoena
Keep until
Five years from the date the return was submitted
Email me before Default schedule
Questions people ask
How long must I keep documents for SARS?
Five years from the date you submitted the return (Tax Administration Act s29). If SARS is auditing you, keep the records until the audit is concluded; if you objected or appealed, until the objection or appeal is final (s32). If a return is due and you have not submitted it, SARS says to keep the records until you do.
When does the five-year period start?
On the date you submitted the return, not at the end of the tax year. Where no return was required, the five years run from the end of the tax period (Tax Administration Act s29(3)).
How long must a company keep its records?
Seven years for most records under the Companies Act (s24), including annual financial statements, minutes and resolutions. Accounting records are kept for the current financial year and the previous seven completed years, and records about a director for seven years after that person stops being a director. The memorandum of incorporation, with any amendments, is kept for as long as the company exists (s24(3)(a)). Where another law sets a longer period, that period applies.
How long must an employer keep employee records?
Three years from the last entry for the Basic Conditions of Employment Act record of each employee’s name, occupation, time worked and pay (s31). Written particulars of employment are kept for three years after the employment ends (s29(4)). The COIDA register of wages and time worked is kept for at least four years after the last entry (s81).
Can I keep my records as scans or PDFs?
The ECT Act says a legal duty to keep a record can be met electronically if the record stays accessible for later reference, in its original format or one shown to be accurate, and its origin, destination and date can be determined (s16). For tax records, SARS asks for the original form or an electronic form the Commissioner prescribes (Tax Administration Act s30). A sealed scan does not replace a paper original where one is required.
How long can I keep other people’s personal information?
POPIA sets no fixed period. Keep it no longer than you need it for the purpose you collected it for, unless a law requires or allows longer, you reasonably need it for a lawful purpose, a contract requires it, or the person agreed (s14(1)). After that, destroy, delete or de-identify it so that it cannot be reconstructed (s14(4)–(5)).
Does KuduDoc delete my records when the period ends?
No. KuduDoc does not delete a record because a period has ended. If you want a reminder when that day comes, put the date on the record: reminders arrive 90, 60, 30 and 7 days before, by default — or the days you choose.
Sources
- Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011gov.zaSections 29 to 32: five years from the return, open audits, objections and appeals, and the form records are kept in.
- SARS: record keepingsars.gov.zaKeep the records until an overdue return is submitted; electronic records kept outside South Africa.
- SARS: the obligations of a vendorsars.gov.zaTax invoices, bills of entry and accounting records: five years.
- Companies Act 71 of 2008gov.zaSection 24: seven years, directors’ records, financial statements, accounting records and the memorandum of incorporation.
- Sectional Titles Schemes Management Regulations, GN R. 1231 of 2016gov.zaAnnexure 1, management rule 26(3): a body corporate’s financial records, six years.
- Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997gov.zaSections 29(4), 31 and 42: employee records and the certificate of service.
- Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993gov.zaSection 81: the register of wages, at least four years.
- Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013justice.gov.zaSection 14: how long personal information may be kept, and how it is destroyed.
- Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002gov.zaSection 16: keeping a record electronically.
- Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999gov.zaSection 5(3): the deposit refund deadlines.
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