What records does IRAS expect a self-employed person to keep?

If you earn income as a sole proprietor, commission agent, freelancer or consultant in Singapore, IRAS expects you to keep records of your business income and expenses. The records support the figures you report in your income tax return. The return itself is a summary; the records are the proof.

How long must records be kept?

Five years. IRAS requires business records to be kept for at least 5 years from the relevant Year of Assessment. For income earned in 2026, reported in the Year of Assessment 2027, that means keeping the records until the end of 2031. Tallycent keeps each receipt for 7 years from the day it was uploaded, which covers this period.

What counts as a record?

A record is anything that shows what was earned or spent, when, and why. For most self-employed people that means:

• Receipts and invoices for every business expense.
• Invoices or statements issued to clients, and the commission statements you receive.
• Bank and card statements that show the payments.
• A list of income and expenses for the year, with totals by category.
• For GST-registered persons, tax invoices for purchases and the GST returns filed.

Records can be kept on paper or electronically. A clear photo of a receipt, with the date, merchant, amount and GST shown, is acceptable. The photo must stay readable for the whole 5 years, which many thermal paper receipts do not.

Why does each expense need a business purpose?

An expense is deductible only if it was incurred wholly and exclusively in producing your income. Private and domestic spending is not deductible. A receipt on its own shows the amount; it does not show why the money was spent. For a meal, a gift or a Grab ride, the purpose is what makes the claim stand up: who you met, which client or event it related to, and what business was done.

Recording the purpose at the time is far easier than reconstructing it a year later. This is why Tallycent asks for the business purpose on each receipt when you confirm it, following the questions IRAS expects for that category.

What happens without records?

If IRAS asks for records and you cannot produce them, the expense claims they support can be disallowed, and your tax is recomputed on the higher income. IRAS may also raise an estimated assessment. Failing to keep proper records is itself an offence under the Income Tax Act. In practice, the common outcome is simpler and still costly: claims you were entitled to are lost because the receipt is gone or the purpose is unclear.

What is the simplest way to stay compliant?

Capture each receipt when you get it, record the purpose the same day, and keep everything in one place that can produce a year of records in one export. Reconcile against your bank and card statements once a month. At filing time, the totals by category are already there, and every figure traces back to a receipt.