You should hang on to any record that could be used to determine your taxes payable for a period of six years from the date of your Notice of Assessment. Additionally, you are required to keep these documents in your home unless you have special permission from the Canada Revenue Agency to store them elsewhere.
There are a few exceptions to the six-year rule — documents that you should keep indefinitely. Examples of these include purchase and sale agreements related to the purchase of a property. You will need these if you eventually sell the property.
************
Have an accounting question? Submit it as a comment so it can be answered in a future “Ask an Accountant” entry.
This post, as in all Ask and Accountant posts, is provided by Mindy Abramowitz. My new years resolution is to give her my tax return stuff in a more organized fashion this year … ahead of time! (you saw it here, first)