The most common question I hear is not how do I organise my receipts, but which ones do I even need. The good news first. It is fewer than you think, and the pattern is always the same.

A quick word on the small-business (Kleinunternehmer) rule

As a small business under the Austrian VAT exemption you do not have to show VAT, as long as you stay under the threshold. Since 1 January 2025 this threshold sits at 55,000 euros gross per calendar year, and that also applies in 2026. On top of that there is a tolerance of ten percent. Up to 60,500 euros the exemption is kept for the current year, but falls away from the following year. If you exceed it by more than ten percent, it drops immediately.

That sounds technical, but for your receipts it has a simple consequence. You collect everything anyway, because your expenses reduce your profit and with it your income tax, quite independently of VAT.

What you collect, the income

Every invoice you issue yourself belongs in the collection. As a small business under the Austrian VAT exemption without VAT, your invoice needs a note on the exemption, otherwise the usual details. Date, your data, the client's data, what you delivered and the amount. A copy stays with you.

What you collect, the expenses

This is where the money lies that you often give away, because the receipt is missing. For creatives these are typically the following things.

The rule is simple. If an expense has to do with your work, keep the receipt. Whether and how much of it is deductible is settled in the end by the tax firm. But without a receipt there is nothing to settle.

A receipt you do not have is money you do not see. Collecting costs you seconds, searching costs you nerves.

What can go, and what you keep

Not every scrap is a receipt. Flyers, duplicate printouts, the note from the coffee break, all of that can go. Whatever has to do with income or an expense, you keep. When in doubt, keep it, because one receipt too many never hurts, one too few does.

How long you have to keep it

As a rule seven years. The period begins at the end of the calendar year in which the receipt was booked. For documents relating to property, longer periods apply, up to 22 years. Keeping them digitally is allowed, as long as the receipts stay legible and complete. That is exactly where a clean naming scheme is worth its weight in gold.

My advice. Do not separate important from unimportant while you work. Gather everything in the same place first, name it right away, and decide at the monthly close with a clear head. That way you lose nothing and do not brood over receipts in the middle of a job.
For context. This piece gives an overview to the best of my knowledge, as of July 2026, and does not replace tax or legal advice. Thresholds, deadlines and rules can change. Binding are the official bodies such as WKO and the business service portal, and your tax firm. Sources for this piece are below.

Sources. WKO, small-business rule VAT. USP, small businesses. USP, retention obligation. WKO, retention obligations FAQ.

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