Lost a Receipt? How to Reconstruct Records for a Deduction

Updated November 7, 2026. Quick answer: How you rebuild a lost receipt depends on the kind of expense. For travel, gifts and listed property such as a car, section 274(d) and the regulation require the elements to be proven by adequate records or by a specific statement with corroborating evidence, and an approximation does not satisfy them. If the loss came from fire, flood or another casualty, the regulation gives a right to reconstruct the expenditures. Otherwise rebuild from the bank or card record, the seller’s copy and a dated written statement, and say in it that it was written now.

First, which kind of expense is it

This page reads the primary sources linked under Sources, as retrieved on November 6 and 7, 2026. Publication 463 is the 2025 edition.

Two standards apply. For most business costs the general rule is “shall keep such permanent books of account or records, including inventories, as are sufficient to establish the amount of gross income, deductions, credits, or other matters required to be shown by such person in any return of such tax or information”. For some categories section 274(d) adds a stricter test. Among them it bars the deduction for traveling expenses, for expenses for gifts and for listed property unless the taxpayer substantiates the amount, the time and place or date and description, the business purpose and the business relationship, either by adequate records or by sufficient evidence corroborating the taxpayer’s own statement. Listed property is defined in section 280F(d)(4), and the Form 4562 instructions put “Passenger automobiles weighing 6,000 pounds or less.” on the list, so a missing fuel or repair receipt for a deducted car cost falls in the stricter group.

What can stand in for the receipt

For the stricter group, Publication 463 says what to do without complete records: “If you don’t have complete records to prove an element of an expense, then you must prove the element with:” “Your own written or oral statement containing specific information about the element, and” “Other supporting evidence that is sufficient to establish the element.” It names the evidence: “Documentary evidence can be receipts, paid bills, or similar evidence.” A card or bank statement line, the seller’s reprint of the invoice and a calendar entry are the usual candidates. The regulation sets the same two-part test, with “By his own statement, whether written or oral, containing specific information in detail as to such element” and “By other corrobative evidence sufficient to establish such element”.

When a receipt is not required at all

Publication 463 lists occasions when documentary evidence is not needed, including “Your expense, other than lodging, is less than $75.” and “You have a transportation expense for which a receipt isn’t readily available.” These relax the paper, not the record. A missing receipt under those lines still needs the amount, date, place and purpose written down, which is where a fuel or parking entry in a log comes from.

Records destroyed beyond your control

Publication 463 has a rule for losses outside your control: “If you can’t produce a receipt because of reasons beyond your control, you can prove a deduction by reconstructing your records or expenses.” “Reasons beyond your control include fire, flood, and other casualties.” The regulation is to the same effect: “the taxpayer shall have a right to substantiate a deduction by reasonable reconstruction of his expenditures or use”. The examples in both passages are casualties. Whether a receipt you simply misplaced qualifies is not addressed in the passages this page read, so do not assume it does.

The Cohan rule, in one paragraph

The regulation describes the old rule and where it stops: “This limitation supersedes the doctrine found in Cohan v. Commissioner, 39 F. 2d 540 (2d Cir. 1930).” It explains “The decision held that, where the evidence indicated a taxpayer incurred deductible travel or entertainment expenses but the exact amount could not be determined, the court should make a close approximation and not disallow the deduction entirely.” That passage covers the section 274(d) items. This page did not read the case law for ordinary expenses; the receipt-rules page covers the Cohan discussion in more detail: IRS receipt rules for business expenses.

Write the reconstruction down, and date it

A record made later is weaker. The regulation says “a record of the elements of an expenditure or of a business use of listed property made at or near the time of the expenditure or use, supported by sufficient documentary evidence, has a high degree of credibility not present with respect to a statement prepared subsequent thereto when generally there is a lack of accurate recall.” A reconstruction is a statement prepared afterwards, so lean on the corroboration. This page’s method: one dated memo per missing item with the four elements (amount, time and place, purpose, relationship), the evidence attached or listed beside each, and a plain note that it was written after the fact. A rebuilt mileage log works the same way; see mileage log requirements.

Where an app fits

The cheapest fix is capture at the counter. SparkReceipt’s home page says you can snap a receipt at the counter in the phone app, and Dext’s US home page says you can send receipts, invoices and statements by mobile, email, WhatsApp or desktop. These are the vendors’ statements; this page has not used either product. A photo in a dated folder does the same at no cost, and neither replaces the written note about purpose.

Common mistakes

Estimating a travel, gift or car amount and relying on it; section 274(d) does not accept approximations.
Writing a reconstruction without saying when it was written.
Assuming every lost receipt qualifies as destroyed beyond your control; the examples are casualties.
Discarding the card or bank statement that corroborates the amount before the tax year’s records are done.

Sources

Read from the IRS documents linked above on November 7, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.