On 4 October 2021, Revenue introduced a Data Retention Policy for MyEnquiries so it can operate at optimal performance levels. Items will be visible within MyEnquiries for six years, and available for a further four years on specific request.

Revenue shared the below message with Chartered Accountants Ireland in September:

On 4 October 2021, Revenue will introduce a Data Retention Policy for MyEnquiries so it can operate at optimal performance levels.

MyEnquiries is a secure online service that allows you to send, receive and track correspondence to and from Revenue. There has been a significant increase in the use of MyEnquiries in recent years due to the:

• quick response time to customer enquiries
• system’s 24/7 accessibility
• availability of written responses from Revenue to customers on technical issues.

There are two parts to the Data Retention Policy meaning that your items will be available for up to ten years from the date of its completion:

• Your items will no longer be visible to you within the MyEnquiries system six years after the date of completion:
• If you have not already moved your item to your MyEnquiries archive, it will be automatically archived two years from the date of completion.
• Your items will no longer be available to you in your MyEnquiries archive six years after the date of completion.
• After six years, you will be able to retrieve an item for a further four years by requesting the record from Revenue. After these four years this will no longer be possible.

Should you require items for longer than the ten-year retention period, you are advised to use the functions within MyEnquiries to save electronically as a PDF or to print and add to paper files.

The policy reflects the position that MyEnquiries was introduced to assist taxpayers in managing their tax enquiries. It was never intended to be used as a document management system.

The new data retention policy complies with GDPR guidelines around record retention.