Do I need to keep receipts if I have the statement?

By Recofolio

A statement line says when, how much and to whom, in the bank's words. It does not say what you bought. SUPERMART DUBAI −212.40 proves that the money left your account on that day and reached that shop. It does not prove whether the bag held groceries, a birthday present or printer ink for the office. For most personal spending that is enough; nobody asks you to prove what the supermarket sold you. A bank statement is proof that a payment was made, not proof of what was purchased.

On the left, one statement line in the bank's words, labelled when, to whom and how much, with the caption: proves the money moved. On the right, a receipt for the same purchase listing what was bought and the VAT, labelled what it was for, with the caption: proves what it was for.

Receipts matter in three cases: spending your employer pays back, spending a business claims, and anything where VAT is recoverable. In each of those the person reading your claim needs the invoice, not just the bank line, because the invoice carries the seller's tax number, the items, and the VAT charged. The bank line carries none of that. For an expense claim you need the receipt, because the statement line shows the payment but not what it paid for.

So the two documents do different jobs. The statement proves the money moved. The receipt proves what it was for. A claim with only a statement line is a claim the reader has to take on trust; a claim with a receipt is one they can check.

The habit is small. Photograph the receipt the day you get it, while the ink is fresh and before it fades or gets lost, and keep it with the statement for that month. If your work reimburses you, note the purpose in one line while you still remember it: client lunch, two people or taxi to the airport, Tuesday. A claim written months later from statement lines alone is the one that gets sent back.

How long to keep them differs for personal, employer-paid and VAT claims, and it changes with where you live and who you work for, so ask your accountant rather than guessing. Personal receipts for things under warranty are worth keeping for as long as the warranty runs, which the receipt itself usually states.

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