Basic tax guide: Which papers to keep, for how long and where
Basic tax guide: Which papers to keep, for how long and where
By buying you accept the terms of sale.
Do you have boxes of papers in the storage room and don't know which ones you can throw away? This basic guide explains in plain language, with one example from start to finish, the real retention periods (4, 6 and 10 years, and when they start counting), what happens with paper invoices and with Amazon's, and how to organise everything so you can find any paper in a minute. And it's free.
What it includes
- 📄 6-page PDF guide (A4), with the storage room of Lola, who runs a ceramics shop through her company, and what she can throw away.
- 📊 ‘What do I keep and until when’ spreadsheet (3 tabs): enter the year and it tells you until when to keep each box and whether you can already throw it away, the retention periods paper by paper, and the checklist to go through every quarter.
- 🇪🇸 Also in Spanish. The PDF and the spreadsheet, in English and in Spanish, in the same download.
What you will find
- The retention periods: 4, 6 and 10 years, and when they start counting.
- Paper by paper: invoices, bank, contracts, the premises and the car.
- Can I throw the paper away if I scan it?
- Business purchases on Amazon, Temu or AliExpress: the order e-mail is not an invoice.
- One folder per year and quarter, and a backup copy away from home.
Who it is for
Freelancers and small businesses keeping box after box without knowing when they can throw them away, those starting out who want everything in order from the first quarter, and those who buy for the business from online shops and keep only the order e-mail.
How you receive it
You order the guide at €0 with your e-mail address and get the PDF and the spreadsheet straight away, on the confirmation page and in your e-mail. The spreadsheet also opens in Google Sheets or Numbers.
Version
October 2026 version, with the rules in force on that date.
Who wrote it
DPL Asesores, a tax and accounting advisory firm in Alicante that handles the bookkeeping and taxes of freelancers and small businesses. Guide written with the help of artificial intelligence tools.
⚠️ This is general information as of the version date, written to be understood without prior knowledge. It does not replace advice on your specific case.
Free.
Terms of sale: dplasesores.com/en/ecommerce/condiciones-de-contratacion