How long to keep business records in Singapore, by type

How long to keep business records in Singapore depends on the rule that covers the record. IRAS requires accounting and GST records for at least 5 years, counted from the Year of Assessment for income tax and from the end of the accounting period for GST. MOM requires the latest two years of employment records for employees covered by the Employment Act (for ex-employees, the last two years, kept for one year after they leave), and the PDPA sets no fixed period for personal data: you stop keeping it once no business or legal purpose is left.

One document can sit under two clocks. For a firm with a December year-end and a GST accounting period ending in January, a November 2021 invoice supports both the year-end income tax computation and the GST return, and on our reading the two five-year periods end on different dates (31 December 2026 and 31 January 2027). Below are the periods with their sources, then a January 2027 clear-out for a fictional firm.

This is general information from official pages rechecked on 17 October 2026, not legal or tax advice. IRAS’s company and GST pages say “at least” 5 years. We could not open ACRA’s website on 3 or 17 October, so Companies Act and ACRA rules are not stated (see “What could we not verify?”).

How long must each type of record be kept?

Each line gives the record, the period, who sets it and the source page with its last-updated date.

• Company accounting records and source documents (invoices, receipts, vouchers, bank statements, ledgers and schedules): at least 5 years from the relevant Year of Assessment. Set by IRAS: record keeping requirements, updated 22 January 2026.
• Sole proprietor or partnership records: 5 years. Set by IRAS: keeping proper records and accounts, updated 10 August 2026.
• GST records (tax invoices, receipts, credit notes, import and export documents, purchase invoices, payment vouchers, sales and purchase listings): at least 5 years from the end of the accounting period. Set by IRAS: keeping GST records, updated 30 September 2026. Our GST invoice worked examples show what a tax invoice carries.
• Books and papers of a struck-off, dissolved or wound-up company: at least 5 years from dissolution, kept by a former officer or the liquidator. Stated by IRAS on the company page above.
• Employment records (employee and salary records, for employees covered by the Employment Act): the latest two years for current employees; for ex-employees, the last two years, kept for one year after they leave. Set by MOM: employment records, updated 14 March 2024.
• Personal data in any record: no fixed period. Stop keeping it, or anonymise it, once its purpose is no longer served and keeping it is no longer necessary for legal or business purposes. Set by section 25 of the PDPA; see PDPC’s Advisory Guidelines on Key Concepts (revised 29 April 2026, chapter 18) and data protection obligations chart (information correct as of May 2021).

On its page for companies, IRAS says failing to meet the record keeping requirements is an offence under the Income Tax Act 1947 and the Goods and Services Tax Act 1993, and that it may estimate revenue, disallow expense, capital allowance or GST input tax claims, and impose penalties of up to S$5,000 and, in default of payment, imprisonment of up to 6 months. The sole proprietor and GST pages mention disallowed claims and penalties but give no figure. Bank statements alone are not enough: source documents, such as taxi receipts for a transport claim, and accounting records and schedules must be kept too. For GST, a sale you can no longer prove was an export or international service is treated as a local supply, with 9% GST (see our zero-rating guide).

Paper and electronic copies are both accepted: IRAS lets companies keep source documents in either form, GST records may be electronic or imaged if its record keeping guide’s conditions are met (we did not open the guide), and MOM accepts soft or hard copy.

When does the retention period start counting?

Not from the date on the document:

• Income tax, companies: the relevant Year of Assessment (YA). IRAS’s example: for a December year-end, the financial year 1 January–31 December 2022 is YA 2023 and its records are kept until 31 December 2027.
• GST: the end of the GST accounting period.
• Dissolved or wound-up companies: the date of dissolution.
• Employment records of ex-employees: the date the employee leaves.

The worked example uses three readings of ours, not IRAS’s wording. First, all four of IRAS’s examples follow one pattern, which IRAS does not state as a general rule: the keep-until date is 31 December of the fourth year after the YA (YA 2019 to 31 December 2023 and YA 2023 to 31 December 2027 on the company page; YA 2021 to 31 December 2025 and YA 2024 to 31 December 2028 on the sole proprietor page). So the year ending 31 December 2021, YA 2022, is kept until 31 December 2026. Second, a GST period that ended on 31 January 2022 reaches five years on 31 January 2027. Third, a document that serves both rules stays until the later date, since both IRAS periods are stated as “at least”. If a deletion turns on one day, confirm it with IRAS.

What do MOM’s rule and the PDPA add?

MOM lists employee records (address, NRIC or work pass details, date of birth, gender, start and leaving dates, hours, leave) and salary records that follow the items on an itemised pay slip. Our first-employee checklist turns this into a folder list.

Payroll is also a business expense. Our reading: payroll amounts that support expense claims are “records of transactions connected with your business” under IRAS’s 5-year rule, so MOM’s shorter period does not let you discard the payroll ledger early. IRAS’s pages we read do not name pay slips, so check its record keeping checklist.

PDPC says the Retention Limitation Obligation “does not specify a fixed duration of time”: the period is judged on reasonableness, by the purposes the data was collected for and other legal or business purposes (paragraph 18.2). From PDPC’s text:

• Legal requirements and business purposes count (18.3 and 18.4): organisations must comply with any legal or industry-standard retention requirement that applies, so on our reading personal data inside a record that IRAS or MOM requires you to keep can stay for that period. PDPC’s example of a valid purpose is a retailer keeping billing information after the sale for accounting and billing administration.
• No “just in case”: data must not be kept in case it is needed for other purposes that were not notified to the individual (18.4).
• Review and write it down: regular review (18.5) and, as good practice, a retention policy that sets out the reason where data is kept for a relatively long period (18.8). Our AI use policy template has a retention clause for AI tools.
• Filing away is not stopping: returning, shredding or anonymising counts; a locked cabinet or restricted-access archive does not (18.10 and 18.11).

Which files can go in January 2027? A worked example

This example is illustrative. Harbour Row Studio Pte Ltd is a fictional design company with a 31 December year-end, GST-registered, with return periods ending 31 January, 30 April, 31 July and 31 October. Its owner plans a clear-out on 15 January 2027. Every date, person and file is invented. “Can go” means only that the IRAS, MOM and PDPC periods we read have passed. We did not verify Companies Act, CPF Board, contract or sector rules, and an open dispute would change the answer.

• Invoices, receipts and bank statements dated 1 January–31 October 2021: can go. Income tax, on our reading: the year ended 31 December 2021 is YA 2022, so keep until 31 December 2026. GST: the latest period they fall in ended 31 October 2021, so five years ended on 31 October 2026. Both have passed.
• The same documents dated 1 November–31 December 2021, and the 2021 ledger that contains them: cannot go yet. The income tax date has passed, but they fall in the GST period 1 November 2021–31 January 2022, which reaches five years on 31 January 2027. Earliest clear-out: 1 February 2027.
• All 2022 records: cannot go. By IRAS’s example, 1 January–31 December 2022 is YA 2023, kept until 31 December 2027.
• Staff member A, who left on 31 March 2026: payroll file stays. On MOM’s rule, A’s last two years of records (on our reading, 1 April 2024–31 March 2026) are kept until 31 March 2027, and on our payroll reading above the payroll amounts stay longer because they support the 2024 to 2026 expense claims.
• Staff member B, who left on 30 June 2025: partly. MOM’s one year after leaving ended on 30 June 2026, but the payroll amounts stay under the IRAS reading. If the file keeps B’s address and date of birth for no remaining purpose and no dispute is open, the PDPA points to removing them (our reading).
• CVs from unsuccessful applicants in a round that closed in November 2025: the firm’s policy decides. No page we read sets a period. If the firm told applicants it would keep CVs for 12 months for future vacancies (an invented policy), they should have gone in November 2026. If it said nothing of the kind, our reading of PDPC’s “no just in case” point is that the purpose ended with the hiring decision.
• A client contract that ended on 30 June 2020: the firm’s policy decides. PDPC illustrates the reasoning: actions founded on a contract must be brought within 6 years under the Limitation Act, so an organisation “may wish to retain records relating to its contracts for 7 years from the date of termination”. On that illustration the firm could keep it until 30 June 2027 and record why. It is an example, not a rule, and we did not open the Act.

What should a yearly clear-out routine look like?

Our suggested routine, not an official one: run it once a year, on a set date, with a named owner, written as a short process someone else could follow (see writing a process people use). Our month-end close checklist covers the monthly filing that makes it easy, and more are under productivity.

1. Keep a retention schedule: one line per record type with the minimum, source, start event (YA, GST period end, last day of employment) and your reason if you keep it longer. The list above is a first draft.
2. Group files by start event, not calendar year, and write the latest keep-until date under every rule that applies on the folder.
3. Pause for holds. An ongoing legal action is one reason PDPC lists for keeping personal data (18.4). Leave anything tied to an open dispute, such as a claim for an unpaid invoice or an employment claim, or query alone and ask your adviser.
4. Dispose of it everywhere: shred or securely delete, then check email, shared drives, exports and backups. If you changed accounting software, IRAS says you need not migrate old transactions but must keep and be able to retrieve them for the required period, with source documents, accounting records and schedules, and bank statements.
5. Log the run: date, folders destroyed, rule relied on, approver, next run. This step is our suggestion, not a requirement in the pages we read.

What could we not verify?

• The Companies Act and ACRA. We could not open ACRA’s website, so we state nothing about what either says on company accounting records. IRAS’s 5 years is the only company period we read.
• CPF Board, sector rules, contracts and the Limitation Act. We verified no retention period for CPF contribution records, and any sector rule, licence condition or contract asking for longer is outside what we read.
• IRAS’s detailed guides. We did not open the record keeping guides, the Record Keeping Checklist or the simplified requirements for small businesses.

Common questions