Are digital receipts accepted by the CRA?

Which kind of digital receipt do you have?

Receipts that arrive by email or as a PDF

These are the simplest, and the easiest to get wrong. The CRA's rule on acceptable formats is that records created electronically have to be kept "in an electronic readable format, even if you have paper printouts." Its circular on electronic record keeping adds that emails relevant for tax purposes are records too, and must also be kept electronically.

In practice: save the PDF attachment with your records, and when the receipt is in the body of the email, keep the email itself. Printing it and deleting the original doesn't meet that rule.

Receipts that live in an app or online account

Ride-share trips, online orders, phone bills and software subscriptions often only exist in the vendor's app or website. Those receipts are records like any other, and the responsibility for keeping them is yours. The CRA's circular is explicit that relying on a third party doesn't relieve you of that responsibility.

Accounts get closed, subscriptions get cancelled, and history doesn't always go back six years. Download a copy when you get the receipt, or at least once a month, and save it with the rest of your records.

Photos and scans of paper receipts

A photo or scan can take the place of a paper receipt only if it meets the CRA's imaging rules, which our guide on how long to keep receipts explains. If it doesn't, keep the paper too.

A few habits help every photo:

• Capture the whole receipt, from the store name at the top to the totals at the bottom.
• Lay it flat, in good light, so every number is sharp.
• Check that the date, the amount, the tax and the supplier's GST/HST number are readable before you put the paper away.

What a digital receipt has to show

The format changes, the content doesn't. The CRA's guidance on business records lists what a receipt should show: the date, the seller's name and address, the buyer's name and address, a full description of what was bought and, for purchases of $100 or more, the seller's GST/HST number if they're registered.

Some email and app receipts are short summaries. Before relying on one to claim the GST/HST back, check that it shows the tax and the supplier's registration number, which the input tax credit rules require from $100. If it doesn't, ask the vendor for a full invoice.

Keeping digital receipts readable for six years

Digital receipts follow the same six-year rule as paper ones. Over that time, they have to stay accessible and readable, and the CRA can ask for a copy in an electronically readable and usable format.

• Use common formats like PDF and JPG, rather than files that need a particular app or subscription to open.
• Make backups, and check from time to time that a backup actually restores. The CRA asks for both.
• Keep each year together, so you know when a year's receipts can go.

In Quebec, Revenu Québec also accepts records kept on an electronic device or computer system, as long as they remain accessible and readable.

A simple routine for digital receipts

1. Send everything to one place. Have email receipts go to a single address, and forward the ones that land elsewhere.
2. Download app and online receipts every month, before they scroll out of reach.
3. Photograph paper receipts at the counter, before they fade or get lost. If one does go missing, our guide on what to do about a lost receipt walks through it.
4. Name every file the same way, so any receipt is quick to find. Our file naming convention guide shows one way.
5. Match your statements to your receipts each month, so a missing one is spotted while it can still be replaced.