Table of Contents
- Why Should You Keep Your Credit Card Statements?
- Online vs Hard Copy Statements
- Factors That Determine How Long to Keep Credit Card Statements
- How Long Should You Keep Your Credit Card Statements?
- When You Should Keep Credit Card Statements Longer
- Different Ways to Store Statements
- Different Ways to Dispose of Statements
- Managing Online Statements: What to Know
- FAQ
If you’ve been holding onto all your credit card statements, here’s some information that could help organize your paperwork: In general, you only need to keep credit card statements for 60 days. Holding onto them for that long gives you time to review the charges to make sure everything is accurate.
However, there may be reasons to keep credit card statements longer, including for tax purposes.
Since different scenarios may require different rules on the timing, this guide will help you determine how long to keep your credit card statements, depending on the situation.
Key Points
• A rule of thumb is to keep credit card statements for at least 60 days to review them for errors or fraud.
• If a charge on a credit card is disputed, the dispute resolution processes can take up to 90 days, making statement retention for this duration of time important.
• Tax-deductible purchases documented on credit card statements typically require retention for up to seven years in case of IRS inquiries or audits.
• Business owners should retain statements for at least seven years when used for tax documentation purposes.
• Proper disposal of credit card statements involves shredding physical statements and deleting digital files, including backup copies, to prevent information theft.
Why Should You Keep Your Credit Card Statements?
Aside from your credit card statement balance, your credit card statements contain helpful information that can come in handy — especially during tax season. When payments are made by credit card, it’s possible to review old statements to look up business expenses (such as mileage) or other potential tax write-offs like mortgage interest and student loan interest.
Keeping credit card statements also allows you time to carefully review them for errors or signs of fraud. It’s easy to overlook mistakes when quickly reading a credit card statement while you’re sorting the mail. It can be valuable to take the time to go over them more closely.
Online vs Hard Copy Statements
If you want to cut back on the amount of paperwork you have to deal with, you can opt to get your statements online. Credit card issuers may store this information for at least one year.
The exact length of time your records are stored will vary by financial institution. Some credit card issuers provide the past 12 months of statements, while others hold onto up to seven years’ worth. Check with your credit card issuer for their specific timeline.
If you want to keep the digital copies of your statements, you can download them and store them on your computer.
Factors That Determine How Long to Keep Credit Card Statements
Like the rules about keeping financial documents in general, how long to keep credit card statements depends on each consumer’s unique needs. But a good rule of thumb is to keep them at least 60 days to have enough time to review them for signs of erroneous charges or fraud.
Under the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), consumers must notify credit card issuers in writing about any errors on their credit card statement within 60 days of the date the statement is sent out. This is another reason to keep your statements for at least 60 days.
If you use your credit card for purchases that might be tax-deductible and you use your credit card statements as documentation, you should hold onto the statements for up to seven years, just in case the IRS has any questions.
How Long Should You Keep Your Credit Card Statements?
How long you need to keep your credit card statements also depends on whether you’re a consumer making purchases for yourself with your card, or a business owner making business purchases. Here’s what to know.
For Consumers
As noted, it can be helpful to keep your credit card statements for at least 60 days due to certain credit card rules. Consumers must notify credit card issuers in writing about any errors within 60 days of the date the statement is sent out.
However, you may want to keep your statements for longer in the following scenarios:
• If you use your statements when making deductions on your taxes: In this case, the IRS recommends keeping statements for up to seven years. That way, if you’re ever audited, you’ll have the statements as supporting documentation for deductions.
• If you dispute charges: If you’re disputing charges on your credit card, it’s best to hold onto the statement in question for at least 90 days, since that’s how long the dispute process can take.
• If you want to track your spending: Individuals looking to learn more about their spending habits may find that holding onto a year’s worth of statements is helpful. That way, you can sit down on January 1 and get a clear picture of how you spent your money over the past 12 months and where you might cut back. This can help with learning to use a credit card responsibly.
• If you have an extended warranty: It’s also helpful to hold onto statements that contain purchases that have extended warranties from the credit card issuer. For example, if you buy a TV with a three-year warranty, the credit card issuer may offer an extended extra one-year warranty as a cardholder benefit. Keep that statement at the ready as a proof of purchase in case the extra warranty is needed.
For Business Owners
Business owners may benefit from holding onto credit card statements for at least a year in order to track business expenses. In the case of credit cards used for tax purposes, it’s wise to keep credit card statements for at least seven years to help resolve any future tax issues that may arise.
When You Should Keep Credit Card Statements Longer
If you’re disputing charges on a credit card, it’s wise to keep statements with the charge in question for at least 90 days since that’s how long the dispute process typically takes.
If you’re tracking your spending over the long term to come up with a budget, you may want to keep up to a year’s worth of credit card statements to review
And if you use your credit card statements as backup for claiming deductions on your taxes, you’ll want to keep your copies of the statements for up to seven years.
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Different Ways to Store Statements
Because credit card statements contain sensitive personal and financial information, it’s important to keep them safe when storing them. Storage methods to consider include:
• In a protected file on your computer: If you download a digital copy of your statements, you can store them in a password-protected file on your computer.
• In a safe: If you are holding onto hard copies of statements, you can keep them in a locked, fire-proof safe to help prevent theft or damage.
Different Ways to Dispose of Statements
Once you are ready to throw out your credit card statements, it’s important to destroy them properly so that no one can get your personal information from them.
Shredding old documents is the easiest and most effective way to do this. If you don’t have a shredder, you may want to invest in one since you can use it for other sensitive documents you’re getting rid of as well. Otherwise you could take the old statements to a professional shredding service.
If you have digital copies of credit card statements, delete the files from your computer — including any backup copies. Then empty your computer’s trash.
Managing Online Statements: What to Know
You can store online statements in a file on your computer, ideally with password protection. Then you can access them whenever you need them. Just download the new statements each month, label and date them, and put them in the protected file for easy reference.
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The Takeaway
How long you should keep your credit card statements depends on your specific needs, but 60 days is generally a good rule of thumb. There are exceptions, however.
If you have an extended warranty through your credit card issuer, it makes sense to keep the statement with the warranty for the length of the warranty in case you need it. And if you’re disputing a charge on any of your statements, it’s a good idea to hang onto them for 90 days, which is how long it takes to resolve a dispute. Finally, if you use the statements to help with your tax deductions, it can be a good idea to hold onto them for up to seven years in case any questions arise.
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FAQ
How can I get old credit card statements?
Credit card issuers typically keep credit card statements online for at least one year and up to seven years. Log into your online account and see if you can access the statements you need. If not, you can call your credit card issuer to request them.
Do you need to keep credit card receipts?
In general, there’s not typically a need to keep credit card receipts long term (unless they are business expenses and you need the receipts for your taxes). Your credit card statement contains information about the purchase — including the item, the merchant, the date you bought it, and the price you paid —should you need it later.
Just hold onto the receipt until the transaction appears on your credit card statement. That way you can check the information on the statement against the receipt and verify that everything is correct.
How long should you keep credit card statements with tax-related expenses?
If you use your credit card statements to help figure out tax deductions, you should keep old credit card statements for up to seven years. That way, if the IRS has questions about deductions, you will have the documentation to back them up.
How can you keep digital credit card statements safely?
If you download digital copies of your statement, you can store them in a password-protected file on their computer. Once you no longer need the statements, fully delete the files from your computer.
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Tax Information: This article provides general background information only and is not intended to serve as legal or tax advice or as a substitute for legal counsel. You should consult your own attorney and/or tax advisor if you have a question requiring legal or tax advice.
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