How to find your Apple receipt

Apple keeps a better purchase archive than most merchants and hides it in a place nobody guesses: a support page called Report a Problem. An App Store receipt takes seconds once you know where to look, and the copy you keep in a receipt scanning app survives an account change.

The fastest way to get your Apple receipt

Apple splits purchases into two systems that do not talk to each other. Apps, in-app purchases, subscriptions, iCloud storage and media sit in your Apple Account purchase history. Hardware from the Apple Store sits in Order Status, with its own invoice.

On desktop

1. Go to reportaproblem.apple.com in a browser.
2. Sign in with the Apple Account used for the purchase.
3. Scan the list. If you do not recognise a charge but know the amount, search the amount instead of the item name.
4. Open the purchase to see the billing detail, then print it or save it as a PDF.
5. For hardware, use Order Status on apple.com instead, open the order and select View Invoice. Apple creates the invoice once the item ships or is picked up, so a new order will not have one yet.

On the Canadian store the labels differ: sign in to Order Status, select View Orders, then use the Print Invoices link on the Your Orders page.

In the Apple app

On an iPhone, open the App Store, tap your photo at the top, then Purchase History. On an iPad, tap Apps and Purchase History first. On a Mac, open the App Store, click your name at the bottom of the sidebar, then Account Settings, then Purchase History.

The list opens on a filter reading "Last 90 days". That default is why so many people believe Apple deletes old receipts. Tap it and choose a wider range.

If it was emailed to you

Apple's own advice is to search your inbox for "receipt from Apple" or "invoice from Apple". That also catches a subscription you cannot find in Settings, and the receipt names the Apple Account billed, which is how you find a purchase made under a family member's account. An email forwarding address moves those into your records.

If you paid cash or have no account

There is no such thing as a cash App Store purchase, so digital content always has an archive somewhere. Two real dead ends exist anyway. The first is a walk-in Apple Store purchase where you declined the emailed receipt. It is not in your online order list and Apple publishes no self-serve lookup for it, so your options are the store itself or Apple's support line.

The second is an Apple Account you have lost access to. Purchase history is tied to the account, not the card, so a closed or forgotten account takes the receipts with it. Apple's advice for a missing purchase is to sign in with your other Apple Account, which only helps if you still have it.

One useful loophole: you can view an Apple Store order without signing in at all, using the order number plus the post code or email address on it. A kept confirmation email is enough.

How far back Apple keeps receipts

Apple publishes no retention period for any of these, which is worth saying plainly rather than inventing a number. It does publish where each record lives:

One Apple quirk matters for bookkeeping: Apple may group several purchases and subscriptions into a single bill, so one card charge can cover three apps and a subscription bought days apart. The purchase history is the source of truth, not the statement line.

What you can claim at tax time

Apple spend is software rather than supplies, and Canada and the United States both treat a subscription differently from software bought outright.

In Canada (CRA)

For a sole proprietor filing a T2125, an app or cloud subscription used in the business is a current expense. There is no named line for software, so it usually goes on line 9270, other expenses, which the CRA requires you to itemise on the form. Software bought outright is different: computer software that is not systems software falls into capital cost allowance class 12 at 100 percent, subject to the half-year rule. If you are registered for GST/HST, check whether the receipt shows Apple's GST/HST registration number, because the CRA's documentation requirements tighten at $100 and again at $500. The GST/HST input tax credit finder covers what a claimable receipt must show, and the T2125 line-by-line guide covers the form.

In the United States (IRS)

On Schedule C, a business app or subscription usually lands on line 18, office expense, or line 27a, other expenses, which you itemise in Part V. Line 22, supplies, is normally for physical consumables. Sales tax works differently from GST/HST: the IRS treats sales tax paid on a service or on property as part of the cost of that service or property, so it is deducted with the item rather than recovered separately. Hardware from the Apple Store may be a depreciable asset rather than an expense, depending on cost and the elections you make.

General guidance, not tax advice. Confirm your own situation with the CRA, the IRS or your accountant.

Keeping the receipt once you have it

Apple's archive is generous but it is not yours. It sits behind one Apple Account, groups purchases the way Apple bills them rather than the way you expense them, and the phone view is filtered to three months by default. At tax time you need a copy you control, in date order, with the tax readable.

That is what scan-ai does with it: photograph or forward the receipt, and the line items, total and tax are pulled out and filed to a T2125 or Schedule C category, so the year adds up. Start free, 20 scans and 5 AI chats, no credit card.

Frequently asked questions

Why can I only see 90 days of purchases on my iPhone?

Because Purchase History opens with a filter applied, not because the older records are gone. Tap the "Last 90 days" control and choose a wider range, or sign in at reportaproblem.apple.com, where the full history is searchable by the amount you were charged.

I got a receipt email from Apple I don't recognise. Is it real?

Treat it as suspicious until you check, because fake App Store receipts are a common phishing tactic. Apple says a genuine receipt includes your current billing address, which a scammer is unlikely to have, and that emails about your purchases never ask for your Social Security number, mother's maiden name, full credit card number or CCV code. Do not click anything in the message. Verify the charge at reportaproblem.apple.com, then forward the email to reportphishing@apple.com.

Will the CRA or IRS accept a PDF or screenshot of an Apple receipt?

Both accept digital records, so a saved PDF from Apple is fine as long as it is complete and readable, showing the seller, date, amount and any tax charged. Apple receipts have one advantage over paper: they are born digital, so nothing fades. The weak point is retrieval, not legibility, which is why your own copy beats relying on the account. Our post on digital receipts and CRA audits covers what an adequate record shows.

The subscription is not in my Apple purchases. Who is billing me?

Search your email for "receipt from Apple" or "invoice from Apple" first, since the receipt names the Apple Account that was charged, and the purchase may sit under a family member's account. If no Apple receipt exists at all, the subscription is probably billed by the app's own company or your carrier, so chase it with them.

Can I get an Apple invoice without signing in?

For Apple Store orders, yes. Apple lets you view an order using the order number plus the post code or email address on it, so an old confirmation email reaches the invoice. App Store purchase history is different: it needs the Apple Account password, with no order-number equivalent.

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