Where to Keep Receipts, Contracts and Warranties

Last updated: October 3, 2026. Rules here are US federal rules only.

Keep a receipt and warranty for as long as you own the item, keep tax papers for the period the IRS lists, and keep contracts while they are active and for some years after. Keep the original paper somewhere safe at home, and keep a scan of everything so you can find it in a minute. The scan is what saves you at 11 p.m. when the dishwasher quits.

The short version, in one table

Different papers run on different clocks. This is the part most "how long to keep it" lists skip: there is no single answer, so here are the three clocks side by side.

If you only remember one row, remember the middle one. A receipt for a laptop is not a tax record. It is your proof of when the warranty started.

Tax papers: the 3 year rule and where it stretches

For US federal taxes, the IRS generally suggests keeping returns and supporting records at least 3 years from the filing date or due date, whichever is later. You'll find it on IRS Topic 305, Recordkeeping. The IRS also has a page of common recordkeeping questions for small businesses if you freelance.

You may also have seen "7 years" on a list. That figure belongs to narrower cases. Summaries of the IRS rules say it applies to records tied to a bad debt deduction or worthless securities, that 6 years applies if you left out more than 25 percent of your income, and that employment tax records need at least 4 years. Check those on the IRS pages above before you rely on them. For a normal household, 3 years is the general rule, and 7 is not "keep everything."

This is US federal guidance only. It isn't tax advice. For another country, check your tax authority. If you run a business, ask a tax professional.

Warranties: you might not need the receipt, but keep it

Here is something that surprises people. Under US federal warranty rules, a company can't unreasonably demand proof of purchase if you can show the date another reasonable way. The wording is in the eCFR, 16 CFR Part 700, and the FTC explains it in its guide to federal warranty law. The rule applies to certain types of warranties, so open the page and check yours rather than assuming it covers every product.

The same pages say a company can suggest a registration card as one way to show the purchase date, but it has to say that not returning the card won't affect your warranty rights, as long as you can show the date in a reasonable way.

Does that mean you can toss the receipt? No. A receipt is still the easiest proof, and a claim that gets argued is not a fun afternoon. The warranty itself should also say what documents you may need, so keep the warranty text too, not just the receipt.

What goes in a warranty folder

One law firm guide, Rock Point Law, lists what to keep when you file a claim. This is advice from a law firm, not an official list, but it's a sound one:

• The purchase receipt
• A copy of the warranty
• The model and serial number
• Repair orders and receipts for repairs and maintenance
• Emails and notes from the dealer or maker, with dates
• Any written denial of coverage

Put the model and serial number in the same place as the receipt.

Where to keep the originals

For paper you need to keep, a filing cabinet in a safe place at home is the baseline. One credit union guide suggests a locking cabinet for sensitive papers, and a fireproof safe or a bank or credit union safe-deposit box if you want something safer. Contracts and anything an insurer or court could ask about belong there. Your lease. A signed client agreement. A deed.

For everything else, paper is a risk, not a plan.

Why a scan matters

Thermal receipts fade. A receipt-tool vendor's guide says many fade within a few years, and some become unreadable much sooner. It is a vendor, so take the exact claim lightly, but you've probably held a blank slip of paper yourself.

So scan or photograph important receipts soon after you buy. A scan also stops the "where did I put it" problem, because you can search for it later.

Is a scan good enough? For taxes, a receipt-software guide such as this one from Neat says a scanned or photographed receipt can have the same standing as paper if it is legible, retrievable on request and complete. That guide is from a company that sells receipt software, so confirm it on the IRS pages before you shred anything. And for contracts, warranty claims and anything a court or insurer could ask about, keep the original. A scan is for finding it. The paper is for proving it.

Emailed receipts count too

Plenty of receipts never touch paper. They arrive as an email titled "Your order has shipped." Those are easy to lose in a full inbox, and they often hold the date, the order number and the seller, which is exactly what a warranty claim wants.

Forward them to one place the day they arrive. We wrote up how to do that in how to forward emails into a notes app.

A made-up example: the dishwasher in month 20

This is an invented scene, not a customer story.

Say a dishwasher stops draining in month 20 of a 24 month warranty. The paper receipt is a thermal slip in a kitchen drawer, and it has gone blank. The person needs three things: when they bought it, the model number, and the order. They search their email for the seller's name, find the order confirmation, and have the date and the order number in one minute. The model number is on a sticker inside the door. The warranty PDF is a file named scan_0042.pdf, which tells them nothing until they remember to search for "dishwasher."

The fix is not a better filing system. It is one place where the order email, the warranty PDF and a photo of the sticker all land, and where you can find them by asking.

Where Stash fits

I'll say it plainly: Stash is a product I work on, so weigh this accordingly. The founder has ADHD and kept losing receipts and contracts, so Stash is the place he wanted: you drop something in, it names and files itself, and you find it later by asking in plain words. No folders to set up, no tags to pick. Every account gets its own email address to forward things to.

Here is what it is not. It isn't a tax tool, and it won't tell you which records the IRS wants. It doesn't prove a purchase date, and it doesn't make a warranty claim stronger. It isn't a replacement for a fireproof safe, and it makes no promises about what a manufacturer accepts. It's a place to find your paper fast.

The free plan holds 100 things, with no card. Pro is $90 per year, billed yearly, for 2,000 things, and you can export everything any time from Settings. If you stop paying, everything stays and stays searchable.

A five minute setup

1. Pick one thing you bought in the last two years that has a warranty.
2. Find the receipt, or the order email.
3. Photograph the model and serial number sticker.
4. Put all three in one place.
5. Put the originals of contracts in a safe spot, and stop there.

That's it. Do the next item next week.

Try it on one real receipt

If you want somewhere to put them, start free with no card, and forward one email or drop in one real scan. Then ask for it by name.