How long should I keep my financial records?

I’ve got stacks and stacks of statements at home, because I thought I had to keep them, for tax assessment purposes, for seven years. I’ve just done a little research, and found that I can recycle rather a lot of that pile.

How long must I retain my records?
If you send in your tax return after the normal filing deadline of 31 January, either because it was issued late or because you sent it back late, you must usually keep your records for 15 months after the date you sent it in. This applies to both online and paper tax returns.

I’ll keep all my P60s too, but that’ll really be a weight off my shelves! (Remember that if you run a business or are self employed, the rules are different.