Keep a receipt when it backs up something on your federal tax return: income you report, or a deduction or credit you claim. That one test answers most versions of the question, the grocery one included. Everything here is US federal (IRS) rules; state rules vary, so check your state separately.
The rule behind every receipt
The IRS does not ask for any particular filing system. Publication 552, Recordkeeping for Individuals (last revised January 2011) says: “The IRS does not require you to keep your records in a particular way. Keep them in a manner that allows you and the IRS to determine your correct tax.”
For expenses, its basic records are sales slips, invoices, receipts, canceled checks or other proof of payment, and written communications from qualified charities. Two details matter:
- Proof of payment is not proof of a deduction. Publication 552 says “Proof of payment alone is not proof that the item claimed on your return is allowable.” A card statement shows you paid a store. The receipt shows what you bought.
- No records can cost money. “If you cannot produce the correct documents, you may have to pay additional tax and be subject to penalties.”
Grocery receipts and other personal purchases
For most people, grocery receipts have no federal tax use. Groceries are a personal expense, and the IRS’s list of nondeductible expenses in Publication 529 (Rev. 12/2020) includes “Personal, living, or family expenses.” For business owners, Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business, lists “Personal, living, and family expenses” among the things you usually can’t deduct as business expenses.
There is one case in the IRS instructions where a grocery receipt matters, and it is about the sales tax printed on it, not the food. If you itemize deductions, you can choose to deduct state and local general sales taxes instead of state and local income taxes (IRS Topic 503, Deductible Taxes). The Instructions for Schedule A give two ways to figure that deduction: your actual expenses or the IRS’s optional sales tax tables. For the actual-expenses method:
- “Sales taxes on food, clothing, and medical supplies are deductible as a general sales tax even if the tax rate was less than the general sales tax rate.”
- “You must keep your actual receipts showing general sales taxes paid to use this method.”
So: if you take the standard deduction, or itemize and use the tables, receipts for your own groceries do nothing for your federal return. If you itemize and deduct actual sales taxes, keep every receipt showing sales tax paid, groceries included. The Schedule A instructions note that “In most cases, your federal income tax will be less if you take the larger of your itemized deductions or your standard deduction.”
Receipts to keep if you’re self-employed or paid on a 1099
Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records, says your supporting documents for expenses “should show the amount paid and that the amount was for a business expense.” Its examples include canceled checks, cash register tapes, account statements, credit card sales slips, invoices and petty cash slips. To be deductible, it says, a business expense “must be both ordinary and necessary.”
Keep the income side too. Publication 583 lists the documents that show gross receipts, including bank deposit slips, receipt books, invoices, Forms 1099-MISC and Forms 1099-NEC.
When one receipt mixes business and personal items, Publication 334 says to “separate the personal part from the business part. The personal part is generally not deductible.”
Travel, gifts and transportation have their own rules, in Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses (2025 edition, for 2025 returns):
- Receipts are the default. “You must generally have documentary evidence such as receipts, canceled checks, or bills, to support your expenses.”
- The $75 exception. Documentary evidence isn’t needed if “Your expense, other than lodging, is less than $75,” or if you have “a transportation expense for which a receipt isn’t readily available.” Lodging is left out of the $75 rule, so keep hotel receipts whatever the amount.
- You still need a written record. The exception covers the receipt, not the log. Publication 463 says to keep the proof “in an account book, diary, log, statement of expense, trip sheets, or similar record,” and that “You can’t deduct amounts that you approximate or estimate.” A record you prepare on a computer counts as adequate.
- What a good receipt shows. Documentary evidence “will ordinarily be considered adequate if it shows the amount, date, place, and essential character of the expense.” A restaurant receipt for a business meal should show the restaurant’s name and location, the number of people served, and the date and amount.
If you track expenses through the year rather than at tax time, the self-employed expense tracking guide covers a routine for it.
Receipts for personal deductions and credits
Even without a business, some personal costs need paperwork when you claim them:
- Charitable gifts. Publication 526, Charitable Contributions, says you can’t deduct a cash contribution, “regardless of the amount,” unless you keep a bank record or a receipt (or letter or email) from the organization showing its name, the date and the amount. For “a contribution of $250 or more” you need “a contemporaneous written acknowledgment” from the organization.
- Other deductions and credits. Publication 552 lists specific records for items such as medical expenses, education expenses, energy-efficient purchases, and mortgage interest (Form 1098).
- Wage and income forms. Keep Forms W-2 and 1099. Publication 552 adds: “If you receive a Form W-2, keep Copy C until you begin receiving social security benefits.”
How long to keep receipts
The IRS page How long should I keep records? ties the answer to the period of limitations: “Generally, you must keep your records that support an item of income, deduction or credit shown on your tax return until the period of limitations for that tax return runs out.” The years count from when you filed, and “Returns filed before the due date are treated as filed on the due date.” Its list:
- “Keep records for 3 years” if none of the longer periods below apply.
- “Keep records for 3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later, if you file a claim for credit or refund after you file your return.”
- “Keep records for 7 years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad debt deduction.”
- “Keep records for 6 years if you do not report income that you should report, and it is more than 25% of the gross income shown on your return.”
- “Keep records indefinitely if you do not file a return” and “if you file a fraudulent return.”
- “Keep employment tax records for at least 4 years after the date that the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later.”
Property is the long one. “Generally, keep records relating to property until the period of limitations expires for the year in which you dispose of the property.” Publication 463 adds that you “must keep records of the business use of your car for each year of the recovery period.”
Before shredding anything, the same page warns that “your insurance company or creditors may require you to keep them longer than the IRS does.”
Decision table
| Situation | Keep the receipt? | How long (federal) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groceries and household items, standard deduction | Not for your federal return | — | Pub. 529 |
| You itemize and deduct actual sales taxes | Yes, every receipt showing sales tax paid, food included | Generally 3 years | Schedule A instructions |
| Business supplies or other business expense | Yes, showing amount paid and business purpose | Generally 3 years | Pub. 583 |
| Receipt mixing business and personal items | Yes; deduct only the business part | Generally 3 years | Pub. 334 |
| Business lodging while traveling | Yes, at any amount | Generally 3 years | Pub. 463 |
| Business meal, travel or transportation cost under $75 (not lodging) | Receipt optional; written record required | Generally 3 years | Pub. 463 |
| Equipment, a car or other property | Yes | Until the limitations period ends for the year you dispose of it | How long should I keep records? |
| Cash gift to charity | Yes: bank record or charity receipt; written acknowledgment at $250 or more | Generally 3 years | Pub. 526 |
| Employment tax records, if you have employees | Yes | At least 4 years after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later | How long should I keep records? |
| Unreported income over 25% of gross income shown | Yes | 6 years | How long should I keep records? |
The “How long” column comes from the IRS page How long should I keep records?; the Source column backs the keep-or-not answer. “Generally 3 years” assumes none of the longer periods in the section above applies to that return.
Three worked examples
A salaried employee who takes the standard deduction. Grocery, takeout and clothing receipts support nothing on the return. Worth keeping: the W-2, any 1099s, records for any credits claimed, and a copy of the filed return. The IRS page says copies of filed returns “help in preparing future tax returns and making computations if you file an amended return.”
A freelance translator paid on Forms 1099-NEC. One store receipt shows printer paper and ink alongside groceries. The receipt goes in the business records, with the business items marked; only that part is deductible. A laptop bought for the business is property, so its receipt stays until the limitations period runs out for the year the laptop is sold or otherwise disposed of. A $40 dinner on a business trip needs no receipt under the $75 rule, but the log entry with amount, date, place and business purpose is still required. The $160 hotel night on the same trip needs its receipt.
An itemizer in a state with sales tax. If they figure the sales tax deduction from actual expenses, every receipt showing general sales tax paid counts, grocery receipts included. If they use the optional tables instead, those receipts are not needed for this deduction.
Paper or scanned receipts
Paper is not the only acceptable form: Publication 583 says the requirements for paper records also apply to electronic storage systems, and points to Rev. Proc. 97-22 for the conditions, including when the paper may be destroyed; our guide to scanning receipts on iPhone goes through them. The guide to organizing receipts covers filing by year and type, which is also what Publication 583 suggests.
General information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Rules differ by country and change; check anything you rely on with your tax authority or an accountant.