A receipt is one of the most commonly used documents by self-employed to confirm the link between their expenses and business activities. Unsurprisingly, we frequently receive questions about this, so we have put together a short guide to ensure that receipts are stored and recorded correctly.
This depends on the transaction amount. If the transaction value excluding VAT exceeds €30, details such as your name, surname, and other legally required information must be included. Otherwise, this receipt cannot be attributed to business expenses. Read more about the mandatory details for transaction documents in our blog.
Self-employed often ask whether they really need to request that their details be included on receipts when purchasing goods for business activities in every shop. As inconvenient as it may seem, this is indeed necessary. Only in this way can a receipt be used to classify expenses as business-related. If you add a receipt without the required details to your expenses, the State Revenue Service may require you to classify these expenses as personal rather than business-related.
If the transaction amount excluding VAT does not exceed €30, details do not have to be included. However, we still recommend always including them, as they may be useful if the State Revenue Service raises any questions or concerns about these expenses.
There are absolutely no restrictions on the number of receipts you can register. The most important thing is that the expenses are directly related to your business activities and that the receipt is correctly formatted.
Simply recording transaction data in an accounting journal is not sufficient. Self-employed are also required to keep these documents. Just like other supporting documents, such as invoices and acceptance certificates, receipts must be kept for five years. You can find more details on document retention periods in the Accounting Law.
Although supporting transaction documents must be kept for five years, there are exceptions. If a receipt fades, the original is unfortunately no longer valid. Therefore, a scanned or photographed version of the receipt is also considered a valid document to prove that the expenses are related to business activities.
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