Archiving E-Invoices: What You Must Keep for 8 Years

Posted on October 9, 2026

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You must keep invoices for eight years — the period was cut from ten to eight years in 2025. For e-invoices, what counts isn't the picture but the structured data: the XML data must be kept unchanged, complete and machine-readable in its original format. A printout or a PDF without the embedded XML file isn't enough. That applies to the invoices you receive just as much as to the ones you write.

What exactly must be kept

ZUGFeRD: the original PDF file with the embedded XML — not a "printed" or re-saved copy in which the data gets lost.
XRechnung: the XML file itself. You can file a readable rendering in addition, but it doesn't replace the original.
Your own invoices: the file you actually sent.

Where data gets lost day to day

The invoice is printed and scanned back in.
A PDF program saves an "optimised" copy without attachments.
The XRechnung stays as an attachment in an email inbox that gets cleaned out at some point.
The file is renamed and ends up in one of five folders — and nobody can find it during a tax audit.

Order beats technology

For most self-employed people, the biggest risk isn't the wrong archiving system — it's scatter: invoices in emails, downloads, cloud folders and on the desktop. One fixed place where every invoice lands as an original, linked to the right client or supplier, solves most of the problem. Formally, the German bookkeeping principles (GoBD) also apply, including a Verfahrensdokumentation — a written description of how you capture and keep records. Discuss that with your tax advisor.

Real-world example

A photographer had collected his incoming invoices as printouts in binders for years. With his first e-invoices, he switched to one digital place where each original PDF sits together with the supplier and the amount. He now only keeps the binder for the few receipts that still arrive on paper.

What you can do now

Decide on the one place where your original invoice files will land from now on. Then check a current ZUGFeRD invoice: is the embedded XML file still there after it has gone through your filing routine?

FAQ

How long must I keep e-invoices? Eight years. The Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act (Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz IV) cut the period from ten to eight years.

Is it enough to leave the e-invoice in my email inbox? An inbox is a valid way to receive invoices, but not a reliable archive. A fixed filing place where the original file stays unchanged is safer.

May I convert an XRechnung into a PDF and keep only the PDF? No. The structured data must be kept in its original format. You may file a PDF rendering in addition.

Note: This article is not tax advice. The binding sources are the German Federal Ministry of Finance and your IHK (chamber of commerce) (both in German); for your specific case, ask your tax advisor.

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