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Tax returns, receipts and digital documents secure bonuses in 730

The pre-filled form comes to terms with the spread of electronic payment systems: the method of payment can be noted on the receipt or proved separately

by Dario Aquaro and Cristiano Dell'Oste

27 April 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The tax return is coming to terms with the growing popularity of electronic payment systems and the digitisation of accounting documents. The novelty of Decree 19/26, the Pnrr decree converted into law last week, should also be read in this sense: an end to the obligation to keep receipts generated by Pos; bank statements are sufficient.

Proofs of payments

With the online arrival of the pre-filed 2026 - expected on Thursday 30 April - many employees and pensioners will be wondering about the documents needed to claim tax deductions: invoices, receipts. When are they necessary? For how long and how should they be kept? Often the documents demanded by the IRS do not only concern the expenditure incurred, but also themethod of payment.

The various subsidies, however, tend to have different rules.For home subsidies the 'traceable' bank transfer has always been used. For furniture, the ordinary bank transfer or cards. For 19% deductible expenses, from 2020 any traceable means of payment is required (but cash is still allowed for medicines and healthcare services at public or private facilities accredited to the SSN). And again: the rental fee of low-income tenants can be paid in cash, that of out-of-town students cannot.

In the sheets, which can be found later in the article, the necessary documents are indicated in ten examples referring to some of the deductions most common in the declarations submitted in 2025. From healthcare expenses, present in 70.8% of the 730 and Redditi models, to life and permanent disability insurance expenses, reported in 17.5% of cases.

For 19% deductible expenses, the fact that the payment was made by traceable means may be noted on the receipt - even in pdf format sent by email - by the person who received the sum. Alternatively, the taxpayer may keep the specific document: the card payment receipt, the bank statement, the copy of the postal or PagoPa payment slip, and so on.

Storage times

According to the instructions to the 730 form, documents referring to this year's declaration must be kept until 31 December 2031.

In reality, for deductions spread over several years, the IRS pegs the checks to the last instalment: for example, in relation toexpenses for building work paid in 2025, it could ask for the documents until 31 December 2040, i.e. by the fifth year following the year in which the tenth instalment is deducted (2035). The enabling act for tax reform envisages shortening this deadline by starting the countdown 'from the tax period in which the operative event occurred', i.e. the expenditure, but the principle is still being implemented.

Not all documents, however, must be kept: as the instructions to 730 specify, those referring to health expenses pre-filled by the IRS and not modified by the taxpayer are excluded.

Apart from this exception, the rule is that the taxpayer keeps the original documents, while the Caf or professional keeps the copy (obviously when not going the do-it-yourself route). The instructions speak of an original document: one spontaneously thinks of paper, but many invoices and receipts now travel in electronic format. Nor, on the other hand, do private individuals ever resort to digital archiving of the hard copy: in fact, they scan or photograph the documents, but these digital copies have the same value - to put it bluntly - as a photocopy of the receipt.

ESEMPI E REGOLE

I documenti richiesti per dieci bonus tipo, da conservare fino al 31 dicembre 2031 (o 2040 per i bonus casa)

The control stop

When the declaration is submitted to the Inland Revenue directly by citizens (or through the tax withholding agent), no documentary checks are carried out on charges that have been communicated to the Revenue by third parties - such as banks in the case of mortgages - and that have not been amended. For corrected charges, on the other hand, the controls concern only the documents that caused the change. In any case, the Inland Revenue 'may request from the taxpayer the necessary documentation to verify the existence of the subjective requirements to benefit from these facilities'.