Changes to the retention periods for accounting and financial documents

Order of the Ministry of Justice No. 40/5 dated January 4, 2024 amended the List of Standard Documents Created in the Course of Activities of State and Local Government Bodies and Other Legal Entities, approved by Order of the Ministry of Justice No. 578/5 dated April 12, 2012.

As a reminder, the said List determines the periods of document retention.

The amendments clarify that the retention periods for documents specified in this List and regulating the business activities of legal entities are applied by individual entrepreneurs, unless otherwise provided by law or arising from the nature of the relationship (previously it was voluntary for individual entrepreneurs ).

The retention period for documents and information related to the calculation and payment of taxes and fees for individual entrepreneurs is set in accordance with the TCU and is 3 years (clause 1.4 of the List).

Paragraph 2.10 of the List stipulates that the retention periods for primary documents, accounting registers, financial statements, other documents, information related to the calculation and payment of taxes and fees, contributions, and other mandatory payments are calculated from the date of submission of tax or other reports for which the said documents and/or information are used, and in case of failure to submit them - from the deadline for submission of such reports provided for by the TCU.

The retention period for certain specific documents related to financial and business activities has been extended. In most cases, it has increased from 1 or 3 years to 5 years. Moreover, as a rule, such documents are subject to the following reservations

- documents related to the subject matter of a tax audit, inspection (audit) by a state financial control body and/or administrative or judicial appeal of a decision based on its results shall be kept for at least the minimum period established and for one year after the expiration of the statutory period for judicial appeal of such a decision, and in case of such an appeal - for one year from the date of entry into force of the court decision that concluded the case, and in case of appeal of such a court decision - for one year

- documents for which the minimum retention period has expired, relating to reporting periods for which a tax audit, inspection (audit) can no longer be conducted, are subject to destruction (except for those that can be used to document the process of compensation for material damage caused as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation and temporary occupation);

- documents and information subject to the requirements of Articles 39 and ³⁹² of the TCU shall be kept for at least 7 years.

In addition, Article 311 of the List, which determines the duration of financial statements retention, has been restated.

Also, the List's provisions on the storage of land management projects and other land management documentation, as well as documentation on software products, were set out in a new version.

Order No. 40/5 entered into force on 10.02.2024 (the text of the order states that it enters into force on the day following the day of its official publication. This was published in the Official Gazette of Ukraine, No. 12 of February 09, 2024).