Receipts and mileage for self-employed taxes in Canada

What the CRA asks you to keep, and one way to keep it · Updated October 2026

“I’m self-employed in Canada. Which receipts do I actually need to keep, what do they need to show, and how do I log my driving so it holds up?”

The short answer: keep every business receipt for six years, make sure the ones you claim GST/HST back on show what the CRA lists below, and keep a logbook of business drives. No app is required for any of it. A folder and a spreadsheet meet the rules; this page explains what goes in them.

How long to keep records

The CRA asks you to keep records and supporting documents for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, even when you file online and attach nothing. Records kept electronically have to stay readable electronically for the same six years. A photo of a receipt is only useful if you can still open it in year six.

What a receipt must show to claim GST/HST back

If you’re registered for GST/HST, you claim back the tax you paid on business purchases as input tax credits (ITCs). What the receipt has to show depends on the total of the sale:

Under $100: the supplier’s name, the date, and the total paid.
$100 to $499.99: all of the above, plus the GST/HST charged (or a statement that the price includes it) and the supplier’s GST/HST registration number.
$500 or more: all of the above, plus your name or business name, a short description of what you bought, and the payment terms.

Those thresholds have applied since April 2021. A card slip on its own usually shows only the total, so keep the itemized receipt too.

Where the expenses go: Form T2125

As a sole proprietor you report business income and expenses on Form T2125 with your T1 return. Two rules catch people out:

Meals and entertainment are generally deductible at 50%, including your own meals while travelling for work.
Vehicle costs go on line 9281. You claim the business share of what the vehicle actually cost you, so you need the logbook below to show that share. The per-kilometre rates the CRA publishes are for allowances an employer pays, not for this.

The CRA mileage logbook

For each business trip, the CRA asks you to record:

the date,
the destination,
the purpose, and
the kilometres driven.

Also record the odometer reading at the start and end of the year. Business kilometres divided by total kilometres is your business-use share, and that share of your fuel, insurance, repairs and so on is what you claim.

After one full year of logbook (the base year), the CRA accepts a three-month sample logbook in later years, as long as the result stays within 10% of the base year.

In Québec

You pay TPS (GST) and TVQ (QST) separately. If you are registered for both, you claim the TPS back as input tax credits from the CRA and the TVQ back as input tax refunds (ITRs) from Revenu Québec. That’s why the two amounts need to stay apart in your records. Business income is reported federally on T2125, and to Québec on form TP-80 (or with your financial statements). There’s a version of this page in French.

Doing it on an iPhone with Snapstub

Snapstub is one way to keep all of the above on your phone, without an account or a subscription.

Receipts: photograph a receipt, or share a screenshot or emailed PDF to Snapstub. It reads the merchant, date, total and tax into a row and keeps the photo with it, so the supplier’s GST/HST number stays on the receipt image. It doesn’t read the number into a field.
Québec: the PDF report can split the tax into TPS and TVQ.
Mileage: each trip takes a date, route, purpose and distance, or start and end odometer readings. The report prints monthly subtotals and, when you keep odometer readings, the business-use share and the year’s first and last readings. In Canada the rate starts at 0, so it logs distance and doesn’t invent an amount.
At year end: a CSV for QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks or Zoho Books (how each import works), or a PDF with totals by category for your accountant.

Scanning and keeping receipts is free and uncapped. A one-time purchase unlocks export. More on logging mileage.

What Snapstub doesn’t do

It doesn’t give tax advice, file returns, or work out what you owe.
It doesn’t decide what’s deductible. The category you choose is a label, not a ruling.
It doesn’t connect to your bank, and it doesn’t track your location.

Sources

This page summarizes those sources as of October 2026. It isn’t tax advice. When a case is unusual, ask an accountant or the CRA.