Singapore legislation
Clause 44
Clause 44
Duty to keep records
(1)
Every taxable person shall keep the following records:
his business and accounting records;
his accounts as required by regulations made under section 39;
copies of all tax invoices and receipts issued by him;
tax invoices received by him;
documentation relating to importations and exportations by him;
all credit notes, debit notes or other documents which evidence an increase or decrease in consideration that are received, and copies of all such documents issued by him; and
such other records as may be prescribed.
(2)
Any records kept in pursuance of this section are to be preserved for a period of not less than 7 years.
(3)
The duty under this section to preserve records may be discharged by the preservation of the information contained therein by such means as the Comptroller may approve; and where that information is so preserved a copy of any document forming part of the records shall, subject to subsections (4) and (5), be admissible in evidence in any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, to the same extent as the records themselves.
(4)
The Comptroller may, as a condition of approving under subsection (3) any means of preserving information contained in any records, impose such reasonable requirements as appear to him necessary for securing that the information will be as readily available to him as if the records themselves had been preserved.
(5)
A statement contained in a document produced by a computer shall not by virtue of subsection (3) be admissible in evidence in civil or criminal proceedings except in accordance with sections 35 and 36 of the Evidence Act [Cap. 97].