Audit preparation: evidence and records retention for IRS audits and HMRC compliance checks
For bookkeepers, accounts assistants, office managers and small-business finance staff who keep the records an IRS audit or an HMRC compliance check will ask for. Complete 'Records retention basics' first: it covers reading a retention schedule, legal holds and secure disposal. This course goes deeper on tax records: working out how long US federal (IRS) and UK (HMRC) rules say to keep them, spotting records that must be kept longer, checking that each transaction is backed by evidence, deciding when a scan or digital record is enough, and assembling an evidence pack that answers exactly what was asked. Jurisdictions: US federal tax (IRS pages reviewed 2026) and UK tax (HMRC and GOV.UK guidance). State, local and sector rules, and your contracts, may need longer periods. This is not tax or legal advice and doesn't qualify you as a tax adviser or representative: refer decisions about what to disclose, extensions and disputes to your accountant, enrolled agent or tax adviser.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 110 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Calculate the earliest date business tax records may be destroyed under IRS and HMRC rules
- Identify records that must be kept beyond the normal period, and what to do when records are lost
- Identify the supporting documents that substantiate a transaction's payee, amount, date, payment and business purpose
- Choose whether a record can be kept as a digital copy or must be kept in its original form
- Prepare an evidence pack that answers an IRS audit letter or HMRC compliance check request
Course outline
- 1.Calculating the earliest destruction date for tax records under IRS and HMRC rulesLesson · 22 min
- 2.Identifying records that must be kept beyond the normal period, and handling lost recordsLesson · 20 min
- 3.Identifying the supporting documents that substantiate a transactionLesson · 20 min
- 4.Choosing whether a record can be kept as a digital copy or must be kept in its original formLesson · 18 min
- 5.Preparing an evidence pack for an IRS audit letter or HMRC compliance checkLesson · 16 min
- 6.Audit preparation: evidence and records retention for IRS audits and HMRC compliance checks: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 16 questions
- 7.Audit preparation: evidence and records retention for IRS audits and HMRC compliance checks: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- IRS: How long should I keep records?
- IRS: What kind of records should I keep
- IRS: Recordkeeping (small businesses and self-employed)
- IRS: IRS audits
- GOV.UK: Running a limited company: company and accounting records
- GOV.UK: Business records if you're self-employed: how long to keep your records
- HMRC: Record keeping for VAT (VAT Notice 700/21)
- HMRC: Compliance checks: help and support
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