How does the retention obligation (bewaarplicht) work?
The seven years start at the end of the financial year, not on the date of the document. An invoice from January 2026 falls in financial year 2026 and must therefore be available until the end of 2033.
Verifiability is the requirement where things often get stuck. A pile of loose files without coherence does not qualify if the links between entry, invoice and bank line cannot be traced from it. An export in a readable, structured format is therefore not just convenient but part of the obligation.
Because the obligation lies with you, the question of what happens when you stop using a service is a real one. An export that is only available while you pay is not a retention solution. Download your export and keep it somewhere you can still open it in seven years.
Where is the retention obligation (bewaarplicht) in the law?
These legal sources come from the specialist dossiers that were reviewed on 24 August 2026. Mind the difference that becomes large in a dispute: a statutory article next to a value is where that value is found, not a justification for how it applies to your situation.
- Article 52 of the Dutch General State Taxes Act (AWR)places the obligation to keep and retain records on the person required to keep records; seven years, counted from the end of the financial year
- Article 52(4) and (5) of the Dutch General State Taxes Act (AWR)the retention period and the requirement that the records be verifiable within a reasonable period
The links go to the statutory text on wetten.overheid.nl, in the version that applied on 24 September 2026.
What does basestep do with the retention obligation (bewaarplicht)?
Your bookkeeping can be exported and that export is yours. basestep does not store files of your receipts; you keep those yourself. If you close your account, there is a run-off period so the export has certainly succeeded before anything disappears from production.
All calculations, explanations and signals in basestep are calculation support and instruction, not tax or legal advice. Amounts are estimates based on your own input; the Dutch tax authority (Belastingdienst) sets the assessment.
Where does it go wrong with the retention obligation (bewaarplicht)?
The two mistakes you run into most often in practice with this term, and what they cost you.
Thinking your package keeps it
The obligation lies with you. A supplier can stop, an account can lapse, and then the obligation is still yours.
Printing digital files and throwing away the original
What originated digitally must be kept digitally. A PDF printout of a digital file is not the same as the file.
Further reading
Three places this term is tied to, inside this glossary and beyond.