- Short answer
- German tax law: books 10 years, invoices and accounting vouchers 8, letters and other tax-relevant documents 6, from year-end, or longer.
- Invoices
- 8 years under UStG §14b for invoices you issue and receive, not only for a Kaufmann.
- When the clock starts
- Year-end after a record's creation, a letter's sending or receipt, or a book's last entry.
- Which class is a Shopify order?
- No provision or Shopify page we read assigns orders, packing slips or emails to a class.
- What Shopify keeps
- Store information guaranteed 2 years after deactivation, for reopening; no tax retention period on pages we read.
- Your own copy
- Electronic records stay electronic and unaltered; printouts alone don't count.
How many years does German law make you keep store records?
Germany's Fiscal Code, AO §147(3), sets 10 years for books and records, 8 for accounting vouchers (Buchungsbelege) and 6 for business letters and other tax-relevant documents. Since January 1, 2025, the 8-year period applies to all vouchers whose old period hadn't run out by December 31, 2024 (banks, insurers and investment firms excepted).
Invoices get 8 years under UStG §14b: a copy of each invoice you issue and every invoice you receive. The duty falls on the Unternehmer, not only a Kaufmann.
Each period starts at the end of the calendar year of a record's creation, a letter's sending or receipt, or a book's last entry, and doesn't end while the tax assessment period (Festsetzungsfrist) for a tax the record matters to is still open.
Which of your Shopify data counts as which record?
No provision or Shopify page we read on October 3, 2026 — AO §147, HGB §257, UStG §14b, the GoBD, and Shopify's help pages on orders, exports and German tax compliance — says which class a Shopify order, packing slip or email belongs to.
The GoBD give a test: a business letter also takes on the function of an accounting voucher only once it is assigned to an account and booked; §147 keeps accounting vouchers 8 years. Have your tax adviser confirm each record's class.
Does Shopify keep your tax records for you?
Not as a tax archive: the Shopify help pages we read on October 3, 2026 — store deactivation, data deletion, orders, exports, backups and Germany tax compliance — name no tax retention period. After deactivation, your store's information "is guaranteed for 2 years, in case you decide to reopen your store".
The GoBD make you "allein" (alone) responsible for proper electronic records, even when outsourced. Keep your own copy.
Records created or received electronically stay in that form, can't be deleted early and can't be kept only as printouts; and a plain file folder usually isn't unalterable without extra measures.
Shopify's Data Exporter app exports store data such as orders, products and users when tax authorities request it.
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