How long to keep AI records: where to look for the rules

There's no single time limit for "AI records". How long to keep one depends on what the record is about, and on which country and agency set the rule. Your job is to find the right rule, then write it down.

Start with what the record is

An AI use log is a business record you chose to keep. A quote that an AI tool helped draft is something else. It may back up a tax figure, a contract or a complaint, and each of those has its own owner and its own clock.

The US Internal Revenue Service sets out the principle. How long you keep a document depends on the action, expense or event it records.¹ So ask what the document is evidence of, not which tool made it.

None of this means an AI log is itself a tax record. Whether a given log or saved prompt counts as one is a question for your tax agency or an accountant. This page only shows where published time limits sit.

Tax record rules, country by country

These are tax rules for ordinary business records. They show how agencies word retention periods. Treat them as a starting point, not a verdict on your records.

Australia. The Australian Taxation Office says most records must be kept for 5 years. It adds that some records must be kept longer than 5 years in certain situations.² The ATO also notes that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission requires companies to keep records for 7 years.²

United States. The IRS says to keep records for 3 years when none of its listed exceptions apply.¹ The exceptions change the length, so read its whole page for your situation. It also warns that an insurance company or creditors may require you to keep records longer than the IRS does.¹

United Kingdom. HMRC says self-employed people must keep records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year.³

The wording and the starting point differ in each country, so a figure from one doesn't carry over to another.

Other people with a say

Tax isn't the only clock. Look at each of these.

• Your industry regulator, if you have one.
• Your insurer, which may ask for records after a claim.
• Customers and contracts that say how long you must hold work.
• Privacy regulators, who cover personal information that ends up in prompts and outputs.

The ATO suggests checking your record-keeping requirements with every organization you deal with.² That fits well here, because AI use cuts across several of them.

Personal information in saved prompts raises its own questions, separate from tax. Ask your privacy regulator or a qualified adviser how long you may or should hold it. This site can't settle that for you. Cutting personal details out of what you store is covered in should you save prompts and outputs.

Write the answer down

Once you have a period, put it in your records.

• The record type, such as "AI use log" or "saved customer drafts".
• The period you chose.
• The source you used, with the page address and the date you read it.
• Who deletes things, and how often they check.

Rules change. Add a "last checked" date, and look again each year, or when you start using AI for something new. The official pages in the reference list are the ones to recheck.

If you can't find a rule that covers a record, you may still choose a period. Write down that it was your choice and why. That's more useful than saying nothing, and you can change it when a rule turns up.