How long to keep bank and card statements

United States

The IRS page on how long to keep records, opened 18 October 2026, says you keep records that support income, a deduction, or a credit until the period of limitations for that return runs out. Returns filed before the due date are treated as filed on the due date.

The same page lists these periods. Keep records for 3 years if the longer cases below do not apply. If you file a claim for a credit or refund after you file, keep records for 3 years from the date you filed the original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. Keep records for 7 years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction. Keep records for 6 years if you do not report income you should have reported and it is more than 25 percent of the gross income on the return. Keep records indefinitely if you do not file a return, and indefinitely if you file a fraudulent return. Keep employment tax records for at least 4 years after the date the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later.

The IRS also says bank statements are basic records for income, along with Forms W-2 and 1099. A legible account statement can be proof of payment when it shows the items the IRS lists. When the tax period is over, the IRS says not to throw records away until you check whether an insurer or a creditor needs them longer. Property records, such as what you paid for a home, are kept because you need them to figure gain or loss when you sell. That can be longer than three years.

Canada

The CRA's page for individuals says to keep tax documents and records for at least six years. That includes a return you filed online, and a form that said you did not have to attach the papers. The CRA may ask later. It says you may need more than official receipts. Keep cancelled cheques, bank statements, and any other proof for deductions or credits. Also keep a copy of the return and any notice of assessment or reassessment.

For a business, the CRA says you generally keep required records and supporting documents for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. The tax year is the calendar year for an individual. If you file an income tax return late, the six years run from the date you file that return. Records about long term property, the share registry, or other history that would affect a sale or wind up have to be kept indefinitely. If you filed an objection or an appeal, you keep the records until the objection or appeal is resolved, the time to appeal further has passed, or the six year period has passed, whichever is latest.

Those Canadian periods are not the US three year starting point. A person with a US return and a Canadian return keeps each set for the country that asked for it. A fee the bank charged for mailing paper is a different topic, on paper statement fees. Ordering an old month the screen no longer shows is on statement copy and research fees.

Save the file while the bank still has it

The tax clock and the bank's online clock are not the same. A bank may keep a PDF for a few years and then drop it, while the CRA still wants six years. Download the statement while it is on the screen. How to download your bank statement is the list of banks that have a click path on this site.

Keep the PDF that matches the return. A spreadsheet of categories is not a substitute for the statement the bank produced. Upload the statement on Expenvo. The PDF stays on your device. Expenvo lists the lines. It does not sign in to the bank or the company, and it does not cancel a membership. How to read a statement PDF is how to separate purchases, payments, and fees on that file.

This page does not say which deduction you can claim. If a notice arrives, the statement you saved is the document you can show. The phone number and the deadline on the notice are the ones that apply.

Questions

How long does the IRS say to keep records?

The IRS says 3 years in the ordinary case, 6 years if you left out more than 25 percent of gross income, 7 years for a worthless security or bad debt claim, and indefinitely if you did not file or filed a fraudulent return.

How long does the CRA say to keep bank statements?

For individuals, at least six years. The CRA names bank statements and cancelled cheques as proof it may ask for. A late filed return keeps records for six years from the filing date.

Is the bank's online archive long enough?

Not always. Download the PDF while it is available. A later copy from the bank can have a fee. That fee is on the statement copy page.

Sources

• IRS: how long should I keep records
• CRA: how long to keep income tax records
• CRA: where to keep records and for how long

Related guides

• Paper statement fees
• Statement copy and research fees
• Read a statement PDF