Record Keeping Requirements by Country: How Long to Keep Tax and Business Records in the U.S., Illinois, Canada and India

Record keeping requirements by country differ in length and trigger: the United States counts from the date you file, Illinois sales tax counts three and one-half years from the filing date, Canada counts six years from the end of the last tax year the records relate to, and India uses eight financial years for company books and 72 months from the annual return due date for GST. A household or business with accounts, entities or property in more than one country should keep each record for the longest period that applies to it, and treat that period as a floor, not a ceiling.

What are the record keeping requirements by country?

What does the United States require?

The IRS says to keep records for 3 years from the date you filed the original return, or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later, if you claim a credit or refund afterward. Extend that to 7 years for a claim for a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt, 6 years if you do not report income that is more than 25% of the gross income shown on your return, and indefinitely if you do not file or file a fraudulent return. Keep employment tax records for at least 4 years after the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later. Records tied to property, such as purchase and improvement documents, should be kept until the period of limitations expires for the year you dispose of the property. Keep copies of filed returns. For FBAR purposes, keep account name, number, bank name and address, account type and the maximum value for 5 years from the due date; see the FBAR guide, the foreign asset reporting comparison and our U.S. bookkeeping and record retention guide.

What does Illinois add?

For retailers' occupation tax, Publication 113 says to keep records that document receipts for the reporting period for three and one-half years after you file the original or amended return. If IDOR issues a Notice of Tax Liability or Final Notice of Tax Due, keep the records for that period until the liability is finalized or discharged. Records must be available for inspection during business hours, be kept in English and be kept in Illinois unless IDOR gives written permission otherwise. Failing to keep books and records brings a penalty of $1,000 for the first failure and $3,000 for each later failure, and officers, partners and managers can face a Class A misdemeanor.

An Illinois LLC must also keep company records at its principal place of business or another reasonable location named in the operating agreement: a list of members with addresses, the Articles of Organization, federal, state and local tax returns for the three most recent years, the operating agreement and financial statements for the three most recent years. They must be available to members on request.

What does Canada require?

Generally, you must keep all required records and supporting documents for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. The tax year is the calendar year for individuals and the fiscal period for corporations. Similar rules apply under the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act (which includes GST/HST), the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Pension Plan. Exceptions: records for long-term acquisitions and disposals of property, the share registry, or other historical information bearing on a sale, liquidation or wind-up must be kept indefinitely; if you file a tax return late, the six years run from the date you file; and the CRA may tell you to keep records longer. If you keep records on servers outside Canada you must be able to access them for CRA officials, and you may ask the CRA for permission to destroy records early. See Canadian corporate annual returns and registers.

What does India require?

Under section 128 of the Companies Act, 2013, a company keeps books of account at its registered office, kept on an accrual basis, and must preserve the books for not less than eight financial years immediately preceding the current one (or since incorporation, if shorter), with vouchers; the Central Government can direct longer retention when an investigation is ordered. The LLP Rules, 2009 require an LLP's books of account to be preserved for eight years from the date they were made. Under section 36 of the Central GST Act, a registered person keeps books of account and records until 72 months after the due date of the annual return for the year, and longer if appeal, revision or investigation proceedings are pending (one year after final disposal, or the 72 months if later). Income tax record rules sit in the Income-tax Act, 2025 for tax years starting April 1, 2026 and in the 1961 Act for earlier years; ask your Chartered Accountant for the period.

How do you build a retention schedule?

Compare your plan with the audit and assessment timelines by country.

1. Classify records by type: income tax, sales tax or GST, payroll, corporate, foreign accounts, property and investments.
2. Assign the longest applicable period across countries and agencies.
3. Date the clock correctly: from filing (U.S., Illinois), from year-end (Canada), from the due date of the annual return (India GST).
4. Store securely and keep copies in two places. Illinois wants sales tax records in Illinois and in English.
5. Suspend destruction when an audit, appeal or notice is open.
6. Keep a destruction log and review it every year.

Worked example

Rohit and Priya, in Aurora, file a joint 2025 U.S. return on April 15, 2026 and also own a Mississauga rental and an Indian company. The U.S. records for that return should be kept until at least April 15, 2029, or until April 15, 2032 if they omit income over the 25% threshold. Their Illinois LLC's ST-1 for October 2026, filed November 20, 2026, supports a keep-until date of May 20, 2030. Canadian rental records for 2026 are kept to December 31, 2032. Their Indian company's books for the 2026-27 year are kept through the eight-year window, and its GST records for 2026-27 stay until December 31, 2033, because the annual return is due December 31, 2027. Records that establish the Mississauga property's cost are kept indefinitely because they affect a later sale.

Mistakes to avoid

• Throwing out records at three years when Canada, India or Illinois sales tax requires longer.
• Counting from the tax year when the rule counts from the filing date.
• Moving Illinois sales tax records out of Illinois without IDOR permission.
• Forgetting property basis records that support a future sale in another country.

How we can help

We are a CPA firm in the Aurora area. We set up bookkeeping and document retention for Illinois businesses and individuals with foreign accounts, and we coordinate with your Canadian CPA and Indian Chartered Accountant so the three record sets cover the longest periods. See bookkeeping and accounting and foreign account and asset reporting.

Frequently asked questions

General information only. It is not tax, legal, accounting or immigration advice for your situation, and rules change; confirm the current rules with the official source or a licensed professional in the relevant country.