At the beginning of the year, the German government passed the Bureaucracy Relief Act. The aim was to reduce the burden on companies in Germany and to accumulate less data.
Originally, the standard retention period for business documents (accounting documents, payroll accounting, etc.) was ten years.
With the introduction of the law, this period was reduced to eight years for accounting documents.
Due to the change of government, there is now likely to be a step backwards again. Minister Klingbeil is now planning to increase the shortened deadline back to ten years. The background to this is the fight against tax fraud, which would allow for longer periods.
This is more important to the current Finance Minister Klingbeil than bureaucracy.
However, there is currently a certain lack of clarity when it comes to retention periods. Currently, the eight-year period for accounting documents applies in accordance with the provisions of the AO and the HGB. This should also be adhered to until there is a final change in the law.
We will inform you as soon as there are any concrete changes in this regard.