Keeping good investment records

Good records allow you to report your investment income accurately and claim all the deductions to which you are entitled. You should keep records if you prepare your own tax return or use a tax agent.

Generally for investments you will need to keep your records for five years after we've processed your return.

On this page

• What records to keep
• Asset registers

What records to keep

You need to keep records relating to your investments showing:

• how much you paid for them
• what you received if you disposed of them
• what income you received from them
• the expenses you incurred in owning them and maintaining them.

Examples of records include:

• your acquisition and disposal statements (your 'buy' and 'sell' contracts) – keep these records for five years from the date you dispose of your shares
• bank statements and passbooks
• dividend or managed investment distribution statements
• purchase and sale details, including any contracts
• expenditure records
• details of capital losses made in previous years – you may be able to offset these losses against future capital gains.

You will receive most of the records you need to keep from:

• the company that issued the shares
• your stockbroker or online share trading provider
• your financial institution, if you took out a loan to buy the shares.

For more information on record keeping, see Record keeping for CGT and Records you need to keep.

Asset registers

You can set up an asset register as an easy way to keep your records. Once you have entered your information into the register, you may be able to throw out records (after five years) you would otherwise have to keep for a long time.