Small business tax deadlines and record keeping: what to keep, for how long, and how

This guide covers the main federal dates for the 2026 tax year, filed in 2027, and the record-keeping rules behind them. State, provincial and sales tax dates depend on where you are and how often you file. For every date, month by month, see the tax calendar and the detailed US and Canadian calendars.

US deadlines

An extension gives more time to file, not to pay. Tax owed is still due on the original date. Payroll deposits run on their own monthly or semiweekly schedule; see Form 941 vs Form 940. The self-employment tax calculator helps you size the estimated payments.

Canadian deadlines

Interest runs on any balance from the payment date, even if the return is not yet due. Quebec has its own provincial return and RL slips. The remittance schedules and GST/HST guide have the detail.

What records to keep

Both tax agencies want records that support every number on your returns. In practice that means:

• Income: invoices, sales receipts, cash register tapes or daily sales summaries, deposit records, card processor statements, 1099s or T4As you received.
• Purchases and expenses: bills, receipts, cancelled cheques or bank records showing payment, credit card statements, and for each, what it was for. A bank statement alone shows you paid; the receipt shows what you bought.
• Vehicle and travel: a mileage log with dates, destinations, purpose and distance. The mileage log template and mileage calculator help.
• Assets: purchase invoices, dates, costs and what happened when you sold or scrapped them, for depreciation or capital cost allowance.
• Inventory: purchase records and year-end counts.
• Payroll: W-4s or TD1s, pay records, time cards, deposits or remittances, payroll returns, W-2s or T4s, ROEs.
• Sales tax: the returns, the calculations behind them, and exemption certificates from customers who did not pay tax.
• The books themselves: the general ledger, the year-end trial balance and financial statements, bank reconciliations, and your tax returns.
• Permanent records: formation documents, agreements, minute book for a corporation, the EIN letter or BN confirmation, and loan documents.

How long to keep them

These are minimums. Lenders, insurers, your state or province, and contracts may require longer, and records for assets you still own must be kept as long as you own them and then for the period above. Many accountants suggest keeping seven years of ordinary records, and permanent records for the life of the business.

How to keep them

• Electronic copies are accepted by both the IRS and the CRA if they are complete, legible and can be produced when asked. The CRA expects records you keep electronically to stay in an electronically readable format, and has specific conditions for destroying paper after scanning. If you are not sure you meet them, keep the paper for the year as well.
• In Canada, keep them in Canada. Records must be kept at your place of business or residence in Canada unless the CRA gives written permission. Records stored abroad and accessed from Canada do not count.
• Keep the software that reads them. Old accounting files are only useful if a program can open them; export year-end reports to PDF and Excel as well.
• Back up using the 3-2-1 rule: three copies, two kinds of storage, one off-site. See how to back up your accounting data.
• Protect personal information such as SSNs, SINs and bank details: encrypted files, locked cabinets, and shredding when the retention period ends.
• Do not destroy early. In Canada, destroying records before the period ends needs the CRA's written permission (Form T137).

A simple system

1. One place per year. A folder per tax year on the computer (and a box or binder for any paper), with sub-folders for income, expenses, payroll, sales tax, bank statements and returns.
2. Attach as you go. Photograph or scan each receipt the day you get it and attach it to the transaction in your software, or file it in the month's folder.
3. Download statements monthly. Save the bank and card statements as PDFs next to each month's reconciliation report.
4. Close each year properly. Save the year-end trial balance, general ledger, financial statements and tax returns as PDFs, and keep a permanent copy of the closed company file.
5. Keep a destruction diary. Note on each year's box or folder the earliest date it can be destroyed, and check the list each January.
6. Diary the deadlines. Put every filing and payment date for the year in your calendar, with a reminder a week before. The tax calendar has downloadable US and Canadian calendar files for your calendar app.

Checklist

• Put this year's federal, state or provincial and sales tax dates in your calendar
• Set money aside monthly for estimated tax or instalments
• Create a folder per tax year with sub-folders by type
• Attach or file each receipt the day you get it
• Save monthly bank statements and reconciliation reports
• Keep payroll records at least 4 years (US) or 6 years (Canada)
• Keep Form I-9s apart, for 3 years after hire or 1 year after leaving
• Save year-end reports and returns as PDFs and keep a copy of the closed books
• Back up with one copy off-site, and in Canada keep records in Canada
• Note the earliest destruction date on each year's records

In AcboBooks

AcboBooks keeps the books in one company file on your computer, encrypted with your file password. You can attach receipts and documents to transactions, and they are kept together in the Doc Center. The audit trail records every change, a closing date with an optional password stops anyone changing a closed year, and reports export to PDF and Excel for your year-end folder. Turn on the automatic backup when the company closes (it keeps the last five copies) and use Back Up Company File for dated copies on an external drive. The Academy lesson on backing up and restoring covers it. Because the file stays with you, you decide where your records are kept, which matters for the CRA's keep-in-Canada rule.

Sources and official links

• IRS: How long should I keep records?
• IRS: Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records
• IRS: Publication 509, Tax Calendars
• USCIS: Retaining Form I-9
• CRA: Where to keep your records, for how long and how to request permission to destroy them early
• CRA: Keeping records
• CRA: Important dates for individuals

Last reviewed October 26, 2026. Government pages change; if a figure here differs from the official page, the official page wins.

Frequently asked questions