What can be thrown away and when? New storage rules

The Bureaucracy Reduction Act allows companies to dispose of documents more quickly. What exactly applies to which documents?

Frankfurt am Main

December 9, 2024

---

New regulations on retention obligations under the Bureaucracy Relief Act IV

The Bureaucracy Relief Act IV introduced important changes to the retention obligations under the Commercial Code and tax laws that affect traders. Here are the new requirements for document types and retention periods:

• Commercial books, inventories, opening balance sheets, annual financial statements and similar documents : These must be stored in original or digital form for ten years.

• Received and sent commercial letters and relevant internal documents : These are subject to a retention period of six years.

• Accounting documents : The retention period has been reduced from ten to eight years.

These adjustments are intended to reduce the burden of document retention for companies and increase efficiency.

TaxPro recommendation for action:

Companies should review the costs of document retention in their annual financial statements and adjust provisions accordingly to the shortened retention periods. This particularly applies to accounting documents from 2015 onwards, which are no longer subject to retention requirements.

TaxPro Notes:

Despite the general shortening of retention periods, companies should note that longer retention periods may apply to certain tax-relevant documents due to tax law requirements. This is particularly relevant if a tax audit or legal action is pending for the relevant year.