How long should I hold onto household paperwork?

[HolidaysQueen]

I was having a big tidy up of all my paperwork yesterday and I wondered how long I need to hold onto stuff - I have gas bills from several years ago, bank and tax statements from 1999 etc. I know that you have to hold on to anything relating to income tax for quite a long while - how long? Also how long do you hold on to the other stuff like utility bills, insurance certs et?

I was thinking of:

Utility bills - 1 years worth
Household and car insurance policies - this year's and last year's
Credit card statements - 6 months
Mortgage statements - 2 years
Bank Statements and wage slips etc. - 5 years (tax reasons)

Any ideas? I'd quite like to try out my new shredder if possible

Thanks!

6 years for tax purposes

god i chuck everything away, might keep current years counsil tax and gas/electric for that month.

I should really keep P60 and other tax stuff.

Yes it is 6 years for tax papers but everything else I just shred!

thanks everyone - i'm going to spend today shredding

Shred anything you are keeping 'for tax purposes' too - the 'six year rule' applies to businesses, not individuals.

The exceptions to this are (i) information for your next tax return and (ii) evidence of the purchase of assets that may be liable to Capital Gains Tax on disposal.

I would get shredding if I were you - not much point in keeping most paperwork as if necessary you will be able to get duplicates of things like bank statements etc. For tax surely you only need P60 and related docs for last year/current year - I don't think the 6 year rule applies to individuals.

we have records online and so don't keep any paper trail any longer.