Storage period for documents in the organization's archivesdirectly depends on the type of documentation. Some documents are stored temporarily and then destroyed, while others have long or even permanent storage periods. We will look into this in more detail in this article.

Archival storage of documents and files is the responsibility of every organization

The obligation to store documents in the organization’s archives and storage periods are stipulated by various laws. Thus, the storage period for tax purposes is determined by the Tax Code. For accounting documents the deadline is fixed by the Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ. How long to store documents on personnel is indicated by the Law “On Archival Affairs” dated October 22, 2004 No. 125-FZ.

A set of storage periods can also be found in the order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 No. 558.

Read about the nuances of applying Order No. 558 in the article .

To make it easier for you to understand the storage periods for documents in the archive, we have compiled a consolidated table of the main documentation that arises in the course of work of any organization.

Storage periods for documents in the organization’s archive: table

Document type	Shelf life, years (minimum)
Personnel documents:
created before 2003
created since 01/01/2003
These deadlines apply in particular to: personal files of employees; orders for personnel; employment contracts, etc.
Other HR documents (timesheets, lists, travel documents).
For more information about this, see the article .
Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S)
Lists and time sheets of workers in special working conditions (harmful, dangerous, difficult)
Acts on occupational diseases, investigation materials
Documentation of accidents (acts, registration logs, investigation materials)
Magazines preventive work and training on TB
Statements for issuing special clothing and special food
See article .
Accounting and taxes
Annual accounting
Reporting to the Social Insurance Fund:
annual	Permanently (as long as the company exists)
quarterly
Reporting to the Pension Fund:
summary
accounting information
Information about the income of individuals
Tax returns and registers
Accounting policy, including its annexes
Primary accounting and registers
Cash documents
For more details, see the material .
Invoices
Read the publication on them .

Nuances of calculating shelf life

The first thing you should pay attention to when “bookmarking” a document in the archive is the moment from which the storage period begins to be calculated. Thus, for some personnel documents it starts immediately from the date of preparation, and for primary accounting documents - at the end of the reporting year.

For tax purposes, the storage period begins after the reporting period in which the document was last used to calculate taxes and participated in the generation of reporting.

Read about the storage periods for documents on depreciable property. .

Second important nuance— the storage period established for one document by different legal acts may vary. If this is the case, you need to choose the maximum one.

Let us explain both nuances with an example.

An example of determining the storage period for a work acceptance certificate

Let’s say the act was drawn up on March 29, 2017. Let's determine its shelf life:

1. As a primary accounting document confirming the accounting of expenses, it must be stored for 5 years from the end of the reporting year 2017, i.e. from 01/01/2018 to 12/31/2022.
2. As a document confirming the fact of acceptance of the results of work for VAT purposes - 4 years from the end of the first quarter of 2017 ( tax period according to VAT), i.e. from 04/01/2017 to 03/31/2021.
3. As documentary evidence of income tax expenses - 4 years from the end of the “profitable” tax period of 2017, i.e. from 01/01/2018 to 12/31/2021.

We choose the latest date - 12/31/2022. After this, the document can be destroyed.

For information on how to do this according to all the rules, read the article. .

Results

When organizing an archive in a company, you should remember that the storage periods for one document serving in different capacities can be established by different legal acts and therefore differ. In this case, the period should be calculated to the maximum. Until its expiration, the document must be in the company’s archives and cannot be destroyed.

Accounting is the most paper-heavy department of any company. But you need to get rid of all kinds of documents wisely. They should be stored for at least several years. And some documents cannot be destroyed for as long as 75 years! So how long should accounting papers “live”?

How long to store documents

Of course, documents must be kept at least as long as tax inspectors may require them during an audit. Based on paragraph 4 of Article 89 Tax Code The Russian Federation can be inspected for a period not exceeding three calendar years preceding the year the decision on inspection was made. This means that the documents of three previous years must be stored.

Meanwhile tax legislation adds one more year to this period. According to subparagraph 8 of paragraph 1 of Article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taxpayers are required to ensure the safety of documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes for four years. These include accounting and tax accounting, as well as documents confirming the receipt of income, expenses and payment (withholding) of taxes. A similar requirement is established for tax agents (subclause 5, clause 3, article 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). At what point do you start counting the four-year period?

Taxes are calculated based on the results of tax periods (Clause 1, Article 55 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). It turns out that the four-year period must be counted from the next day after the end of the tax period. For example, let's take VAT: until what date should we keep documents related to the calculations of this tax for the fourth quarter of 2004? The four-year term will begin on January 1, 2005 and end on December 31, 2008. It turns out that in 2008 it is necessary to store documents from 2004. That is, a year that is not subject to on-site inspection.

Storage periods for documents are also established in accounting legislation. From Article 17 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ “On Accounting” (hereinafter referred to as the Accounting Law) it follows that:
— primary accounting documents, registers accounting And financial statements must be stored for periods established by the rules of state archival affairs, but not less than five years;
— accounting policy documents and computer data processing programs must be stored by the organization for at least five years after the year in which they were last used to prepare financial statements.

A few exceptions to the general rule

So, according to general rule Papers must be stored for at least five years. Exactly like this maximum term established by the Accounting Law. At the same time, the maximum depth of a tax audit is three years. Therefore, it is especially important to maintain the safety of papers related to the calculation of taxes during this period. If you do not have enough documents from, say, five years ago, you can only be fined for violating the rules for storing documents.

Meanwhile, in a number of cases, the storage period for documents is determined according to special rules. As a result, the absence of papers even, for example, six years ago can lead to fines for understatement tax payments. Let's look at such situations separately.

“Primary” for acquired property. Documents for the acquisition of fixed assets must be preserved regardless of the period beneficial use these objects. After all, papers are needed to confirm initial cost for the purposes of calculating depreciation and property tax. In addition, without a “primary” document, the company will not be able to confirm the value of the property when it is sold. Moreover, this applies to both fixed assets and other property (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 15, 2005 No. 03-03-02/84).

Special requirement for loss-making companies. The income tax payer has the right to reduce the tax base of the current period for losses of previous tax periods in the manner prescribed by Article 283 of the Tax Code. Losses can be taken into account for the next 10 years. Since Chapter 25 of the Tax Code has been in effect since 2002, this year's loss can be used to reduce tax burden companies up to 2012 inclusive. Moreover, Article 10 of Federal Law No. 110-FZ of August 6, 2001 allows for the recognition of losses identified at the end of 2001.

However, if a company transfers losses to the future, then during the entire period of using this benefit it is obliged to keep documents confirming the amount of losses incurred (clause 4 of Article 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This provision allows tax authorities to request documents on past losses that the company declares in its declaration for the current period. Based on this, the Ministry of Finance of Russia, in letter dated April 3, 2007 No. 03-03-06/1/206, explains that writing off losses is possible only upon presentation of primary documents confirming the financial result obtained.

True, the amount of losses can be confirmed by previously conducted tax audits, during which the “primary” related to them has already been studied. In this case, repeat documentary check not required. This conclusion was reached by the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation in its ruling dated June 6, 2008 No. 6899/08.

Let us add that the requirement to store documents on losses during the entire period of their write-off also applies to payers of the unified agricultural tax (clause 5 of Article 346.6 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) and for “simplified workers” (clause 7 of Article 346.18 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Write-off as uncollectible accounts receivable. And in this case, documents will have to be stored for longer than five years.

Let us remind you: in accordance with subparagraph 2 of paragraph 2 of Article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the amounts of bad debts are equated to non-operating expenses of the taxpayer as a loss received in the reporting (tax) period. Such expenses reduce the tax base when calculating income tax. Naturally, with supporting documents.

Thus, the primary accounting documents substantiating the amount of receivables characterize the value of the disposed property rights, that is, the amount of expenses. Therefore, the countdown of the storage period for such documents must be started anew from the moment the bad debt is written off. If you destroy documents ahead of schedule, the company will lose the right to recognize bad debts as expenses, since it will not be able to confirm their amount to the tax authorities.

Retention period for documents by joint stock companies. When storing documents, joint stock companies must be guided by the Regulations approved by the FCSM Resolution No. 03-33/ps dated July 16, 2003. In particular, according to this regulatory document, charter and annual financial statements they are required to keep permanently. That is, during the entire life of the company. And in the event of liquidation of the company, documents with a permanent shelf life and personnel records are transferred to the state archive. This is if an agreement was concluded with him. If there is no agreement with the archive, then it is obliged to accept for storage only documents on the personnel of the company’s employees. The storage location of the remaining documents is determined by the chairman of the liquidation commission or the bankruptcy trustee.

Tax reports. Annual tax returns the company must keep them for at least 10 years, and quarterly ones, if there are annual ones, for five years. This is determined by paragraph 170 of the List of standard management documents generated in the activities of organizations, indicating storage periods, approved by Rosarkhiv on October 6, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as the List of standard management documents) in conjunction with clause 2.4.2 of the Instructions for using the List. Must be stored for at least 10 years and quarterly reports, if there are no annual ones (for example, for VAT). But monthly reports in the absence of quarterly forms must be kept for 5 years.

Invoices, purchase and sales books. According to paragraphs 15 and 27 of the Rules for maintaining logs of received and issued invoices, purchase books and sales books... approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 2, 2000 No. 914, purchase books and sales books should be kept for a full five years from the date of the last records. That is, these papers for the fourth quarter of 2004 should be kept throughout 2009.

A five-year retention period is also established for invoices. Reason - clause 150 of the List of standard management documents.

At the same time tax authorities although he has the right to demand documents serving as the basis for calculating taxes and confirming their payment, but only in accordance with the legislation on taxes and fees. But the above List is not included in it. Therefore, for example, in 2009, the tax authorities’ request for an invoice for 2004 can be ignored.

Retention period for a number of other documents. Storage periods for a number of other documents are established by special federal body executive power - Rosarkhiv (clause 3 of article 6 of the Federal Law of October 22, 2004 No. 125-FZ, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of June 17, 2004 No. 290). And they often exceed five years. Let us turn to the already mentioned List of standard management documents.

The accountant is primarily concerned with section 4 “Accounting and reporting”, as well as sections 7 “ Labor relations" and 8 " Staffing" We have summarized the individual items of the List into a table.

The table contains documents with a shelf life of one year. But if these papers belong to “primary” documents, then in accordance with accounting legislation they must be stored for at least five years.

How to properly store and destroy documents

A permanent expert commission should select documents for storage and destruction, as well as set deadlines. It consists of the most qualified specialists from the main structural divisions, and one of the company’s senior employees is appointed chairman.

How to store. Storage of documents is an element of document flow and therefore must be regulated accounting policy(clause 5 of PBU 1/98 “Accounting policies of the organization”). In this case, one should be guided by the Regulations on Documents and Document Flow in Accounting (approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1983 No. 105, hereinafter referred to as the Regulations). But to the extent that does not contradict current legislation. Clause 6.1 of the Regulations states that primary documents, accounting registers, accounting reports and balances are subject to mandatory transfer to the archive. Processed primary documents are completed monthly (clause 6.4 of the Regulations).

The company determines the storage location for documents independently. As a rule, this is the company's office. Please note that you can store papers outside of the office - this is not prohibited by law. For example, you can use the services of specialized archival companies, which is often both more profitable and more reliable. But joint stock companies must store a number of documents (for example, the charter and annual reports) exclusively at the location of their executive body (clause 2 of article 89 of the Federal Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ “On joint stock companies Oh").

Of course, hosting a paper archive requires office space, which is constantly becoming more expensive. Therefore, it is easier to store accounting and tax documents in electronic form. This possibility is provided for in Articles 9 and 10 of the Law on Accounting and Article 314 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. This was confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Finance in a letter dated July 24, 2008 No. 03-02-07/1-314.

However, officials explained that information on computer media should be stored using electronic digital signature. In accordance with the norms of the Federal Law of January 10, 2002 No. 1-FZ “On Electronic Digital Signature”, such a signature is equivalent to a handwritten signature in a paper document. For electronic document management, the company creates a corporate information system. It is serviced by a certification center that ensures the use of digital signatures in electronic documents.

What to do with documents if the company is liquidated? Then the liquidation commission transfers documents on personnel for storage to the state or municipal archive. And other archival papers, the temporary storage period of which has not expired, can also be transferred to the archive by concluding an agreement with it. Or store it in any other place. Let us note that simply destroying these papers is prohibited by clause 9.7.3 of the Basic Rules for the Operation of Archives of Organizations, approved by the decision of the Rosarkhiv Board of February 6, 2002. And to avoid possible problems It’s better not to do this with law enforcement agencies.

When a company is reorganized, documents are transferred to the successor organization or organizations. If a new organization is spun off, cases related to the profile of its activities are transferred to it, as well as personal files and personal accounts of employees who have transferred to work for this organization.

How to destroy. The destruction of documents is documented by an act approved by the head of the organization.

At the same time, it is not necessary to indicate the details of all papers in the document disposal act. This conclusion follows from paragraph 2.4.5 of the Basic Rules for the Operation of Organizational Archives. These rules provide a unified form of the act on the allocation of documents for destruction. And in it you can make a single entry for a group of similar documents. The company has the right to determine independently which documents are considered homogeneous. For example, these could be documents with the same name, say invoices.

According to the law, folders with documents subject to destruction must be transferred for recycling (disposal). For example, to a company that processes recyclable materials. The transfer of papers is issued with an invoice. Loading and removal for disposal occurs under the control of an employee who ensures the safety of documents in the organization.

There is a simpler approach to document destruction. Let's say, use a paper shredder for this. In addition, documents can be burned or simply thrown away. However, it should be taken into account that unauthorized burning is a violation of environmental legislation. Throwing away unnecessary documentation is also risky. For example, according to labor law, the employer is obliged to ensure the protection of personal data of employees. And other securities may well be of interest to competitors.

Responsibility for violation of document storage rules

According to Article 120 of the Tax Code, the absence of primary documents from the taxpayer, or the absence of invoices or accounting registers is regarded as a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses and taxable items. This tax offense entails a fine of 5,000 rubles. But only on the condition that the “shortage” of these documents was discovered only for one tax period. IN otherwise The taxpayer will face a fine of at least 15,000 rubles. If a lack of documents leads to an underestimation of the tax base, the taxpayer faces a fine of 10 percent of the amount of unpaid tax, but not less than 15,000 rubles. The safety of documents is not ignored in criminal law. Based on paragraph 1 of Article 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, theft, destruction, damage or concealment official documents out of personal interest may be punished by imprisonment for up to one year. But of course law enforcement agencies such interest will have to be proven. And finally, how the company complies with archival legislation can be checked by archivists. According to Article 13.20 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses, violation of the rules for storage, acquisition, accounting or use of archival documents threatens officials a warning or a fine in the amount of 300 to 500 rubles.

How is responsibility for storing documents distributed?

The director of the company and chief accountant. Moreover, on the basis of the Accounting Law, the director is responsible for organizing storage, in particular for the availability of special premises, lockable cabinets, and safes. And the chief accountant ensures the safety of documents and their transfer to the archive. For this purpose, he can appoint responsible persons (clauses 6.6 and 6.2 of the Regulations). For example, over time, the information reflected on paper media, may be lost (faded). In this case, you need to take care of making copies of these documents and certifying them with the company’s seal. This recommendation follows from the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 3, 2007 No. 03-03-06/1/209.

What do you do with documents whose storage period has expired?

Any accountant knows that all primary documents must be stored for a certain period of time. Large companies have special archives for storing folders with accounting documents. With the advent of electronic document management, a certain part of documents can no longer be printed, but stored electronically. Regardless of the chosen storage method primary documentation need to work in accordance with the deadlines established by law. We'll talk about them below.

General information on the storage periods for primary documents is contained in Federal Law dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ. This part legislative act states that the primary product must be stored for at least five years. The period may be higher - and the exact shelf life of a particular document will be determined by the Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. This document contains a table with storage periods for primary accounting documents, tax registers, personnel documents and other documentation. The table presents 1,003 positions with deadlines by type of document.

The storage period for primary documents in accounting did not change in 2017.

Do not confuse the storage periods for primary documents with the storage periods for tax accounting documents. For example, an invoice is a tax document, and it can be stored for only four years (clause 8, clause 1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Keep in mind that the storage period for primary documents in the accounting department does not count from the date the document was drawn up, but from the beginning of the new reporting year (letter from the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation).

For example, the invoice was drawn up on August 24, 2017. According to the rules, the minimum storage period is five years. This means that such an invoice cannot be destroyed before 01/01/2023.

The retention period for some documents depends on the fact of the inspection. For example, advance reports must be stored for five years. If the tax authorities did not check them during this period, the period is increased (Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation dated August 25, 2010 No. 558).

The maximum storage period is established for personnel documents (orders, cards for employees), various salary documents. Such documents must be stored for at least 75 years.

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Storage periods for electronic documents

The law states that the primary certificate can be issued in paper form and electronically (Part 5 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). If an electronic document is issued in compliance with the law, it is subject to the same retention periods as for the paper version.

There is no single program for storing documents electronically. Thus, payment orders can be stored in banking system client-bank. Primary documents, such as invoices, UPD, acts, can be stored in accounting program or a service through which electronic document flow occurs. Also storage electronic documents perhaps in a special electronic archive or in the cloud. Electronic documents can be stored in different ways; the chief accountant’s task is to ensure their safety and readability even after years.

So, let's summarize. To the question of what is the minimum storage period for primary accounting documents established by law, we can safely answer - five years. The storage periods for electronic documents can be calculated based on the storage periods for paper documents. These dates coincide. The chosen method of document storage must be reflected in the accounting policy.

Federal Law of October 22, 2004 N 125-FZ "On Archival Affairs in Russian Federation"organizations are obliged to ensure the safety of archival documents, including documents on personnel, during their storage periods established by federal laws, other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, as well as the lists of documents provided for in Part 3 of Article 6 and Parts 1 and 1.1 of Article 23 of this Federal Law.

The specified lists of documents include:

1) lists of standard archival documents indicating their storage periods and instructions for the use of these lists, approved by the authorized federal executive body in the field of archival affairs and record keeping (currently - Rosarkhiv, previously - the Ministry of Culture of Russia):

- List of standard management archival documents generated in the process of activities of government agencies and bodies local government and organizations, indicating their storage periods, approved. By Order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 N 558;

- List of standard archival documents generated in the scientific, technical and production activities of organizations, indicating storage periods, approved. By Order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated July 31, 2007 N 1182.

In addition, to determine the storage periods for management documents for the 80s - the first half of the 90s of the 20th century, as well as specific (industry) documentation, the List of Standard Documents, approved is used. Chief Archive of the USSR from 08/15/1988;

2) approved by federal authorities state power, other government agencies of the Russian Federation lists of documents generated in the process of their activities, as well as in the process of activities of organizations subordinate to them, indicating the periods of their storage. These lists of documents are approved in agreement with Rosarkhiv;

3) list of documents generated in the process of activity credit institutions, indicating their storage periods and instructions for its use, approved by the authorized federal executive body in the field of archival affairs and office work together with the Bank of Russia.

For joint-stock companies, the storage periods for their documents are determined by the Regulations on the procedure and periods for storing documents of joint-stock companies, approved. Resolution of the Federal Commission for the Securities Market of Russia dated July 16, 2003 N 03-33/ps.

IN reference information The storage periods for the most common documents of organizations are given, established by the List of standard management archival documents, approved. Order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 N 558, as well as storage periods for documents not included in the above lists and established by federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation.

“Listen, let’s throw it all away,” the director told me, pointing to a rack filled with boxes of documents from 7 years ago. And I answered him: “It’s not that simple, sometimes the storage period for documents in an organization is several decades.” The director believed me, and our native waste paper continued to gather dust on the archive shelves. Until next time - when the question arises about purchasing a new rack, then we will go through everything and leave only those documents whose shelf life in the organization has not yet actually expired.

How long should documentation be kept?

The need for storing documents is indicated Federal law dated October 22, 2004 N 125-FZ “On archival affairs in the Russian Federation.” In addition, there are three lists that approve the periods of storage of documents in the archive for public and private legal entities in various fields of activity. Documentation of joint-stock companies must be stored in accordance with the Regulations on the procedure and terms of storage of documents of joint-stock companies, approved. Resolution of the Federal Commission for the Securities Market of the Russian Federation dated July 16, 2003 N 03-33/ps.

Specific periods for storing documentation

The shortest shelf life is 1 year, the maximum is 75 years. I will not indicate them by name for each document, of which there are a lot. In addition to the deadlines established for common documents, such as personnel, financial, accounting, tax and electronic document management, papers have their own storage periods for documents for specialized purposes various fields of industry, medicine, security. Let's consider the periods during which the most common papers existing in any organization should be stored.

Retention periods for commonly used documents

The periods indicated below for storing documents at the enterprise begin from the end of the reporting year, or the year in which the documents were issued. Constituent documents, licenses, patents, transaction certificates cannot be destroyed and must be stored permanently.

Personnel documents:

• staffing schedules - permanent;
• confirming the occurrence of an accident - 45 years;
• confirming the occurrence occupational disease- 75 years;
• employee's personal file - 75 years;
• all documents relating to the employee’s activities under special working conditions - 75 years.

Financial documents:

• having information on the calculation and payment of taxes - 4 years;
• confirming expenses incurred in connection with the employee’s training - during the entire period of training plus another 1 year, and at least four years;
• confirming the amount of losses carried forward to the future - for the entire period until tax base is reduced by the loss transferred;
• confirming calculations for insurance premiums in off-budget funds- 6 years;
• EDS certificates must be retained for another 5 years after the end of the year in which the certificate expired;
• a calculation accepted by the FSS via electronic communication channels, made in form 4-FSS, and a receipt for its receipt - 5 years;
• accounting documents disclosing accounting and reporting - 5 years;
• cash receipts, cashier-operator journals, fiscal memory drives, electronic control tapes, other forms confirming cash payments in cash- 5 years;
• passport version of the cash register - for the entire period while the passport is valid.

How to clear away paper debris?

Over time, an organization accumulates a huge amount of various documentation. In order not to get bogged down in papers, it is necessary to create a commission (usually consisting of three people) that would conduct an examination for value and sort the papers into the following categories, depending on what periods of storage of documents in the organization are provided for them:

• subject to permanent storage in the archives of a state entity;
• documents that must be stored for more than 10 years in the archives of a legal entity;
• which must be temporarily stored for no more than 10 years in the department’s archives;
• papers permitted for destruction upon expiration of the storage period.

Document destruction procedure

When documents are destroyed, a report is drawn up. There is no unified form for this kind of act; it is drawn up in free form, fixed by order of the head. It should indicate not only the name and all details of the organization, but also, usually in the form of a table, indicate the names of documents (cases), the period when they were created, the number of sheets or, if the volume of the case under one name is large, then the number of volumes . In the same act, you can add columns of the invoice for the transfer and receipt of documents for destruction.