How do I scan a pile of receipts for taxes on my iPhone?

September 30, 2026 · ReceiptIQ AI · Xinzhou Liu

Short answer: Scan them one after another with ReceiptIQ AI, let each receipt get its category, and at tax time export the date range as a CSV or as a PDF with every receipt photo. It handles up to 30 receipts per 24 hours and is not tax software: it files nothing, links to no bank and sends nothing to an accountant for you.

Try it on your own receipt: one receipt in your browser, no install, no account

The routine, step by step

1. Check the categories first

Open Settings → Receipts & Money → Categories before the first scan and trim or add categories the way your accountant wants them (Vehicle, Tools, Home Office, and so on). A category added later does not re-file receipts you already scanned. There is a default Tax category for tax and fee lines.

2. Scan them one after another

The live camera finds the receipt in the frame, waits until it is flat and in focus, and takes the photo by itself. You can also import photos and screenshots from Photos, Files or Mail through the iOS share sheet. If you add another receipt while one is still being read, it waits in a queue and is processed next. Each scan gives the store, the date, every item with its price, the tax, and a category for each item.

Limits for a big pile. The first 30 receipts are free (manual entries count). The fair-use limit is 30 receipts per 24 hours, so a pile of 60 is two days of scanning.
Old receipts get today's date. A date the app reads from a receipt is accepted only if it is within the past year and not in the future; otherwise today's date is stamped. For receipts from more than a year ago, check the date in the edit screen.
Ambiguous dates. A date like 8/9/2026 can be 9 August or 8 September. The app works it out from the receipt where it can and asks you once where it cannot, then remembers the format for that store.
A receipt that does not add up is announced. If the items still do not match the printed total after the automatic checks, the receipt is saved and the app tells you, with a button to review it.
Scanning the same receipt twice is flagged when store, day and total match one already saved.

3. Categorise

Each item can carry its own category, and the receipt can carry one category for all of its items. Changing the receipt's category applies to all its items; you can then change single items. A receipt that covers two kinds of expense (for example the business half of a mixed shop) can therefore be split.

4. Find a receipt

Search matches the store, an item, an amount, or a date typed as eight digits, for example 20260912.

5. Export the tax period

Settings → Your Data → Data Export. Pick the period (presets, or a custom start and end date for a quarter or a tax year) and optionally one category. Three exports, all Premium:

CSV: a summary block (receipt count, Total Expenses, Total Tax, Total Tips), then one row per receipt.
Items CSV (since version 2.4.4): one row per item, so a category filter can pull out single items, for example the business half of a mixed receipt.
PDF report: an expense summary with a per-category breakdown, a receipts index, and every scanned receipt photo on its own page. Photos appear only if "Keep Receipt Images" is on in Settings.

Details, including columns: Can I export my receipt data?

Tax lines: GST, HST, VAT, sales tax, MwSt.

A line named GST, HST, PST, QST, VAT, BTW, MwSt, TVA, IVA, SST or TAX, and environmental fees and refundable deposits, is filed in the Tax category instead of being counted as groceries or dining. The CSV and PDF open with the period's totals, including tax paid. The rule works when your category list contains a tax category, which it does by default.

Canada. GST, HST, PST and QST lines are totalled into Total Tax on export. A real example: a Dollarama receipt in Calgary, total $11.03, came out as Household Supplies $7.00, Food & Grocery $3.50 and GST $0.53 filed under Tax. Record-keeping rules from the CRA and the IRS are linked on Self-employed year-end receipts: Canada and US.
United States. Sales tax is a Tax line. Nothing here files Schedule C; see the same page.
Germany. The MwSt. table is told apart from the total line, and Pfand is filed under Tax. See Does ReceiptIQ AI support German receipts? and, for the Steuererklärung, Belege scannen für Selbstständige (German).

What it is not

Not tax software or a bookkeeper: it does not file a return, calculate what is deductible or work out a GST/HST or VAT balance.
No bank linking and no email-inbox connection. An emailed receipt is added by sharing a screenshot into the app. A bank or card statement can be imported as a PDF or photo that you choose yourself.
No accountant portal and no account of any kind: you hand over the exported file yourself.
Not tax advice. Whether a photo of a receipt is enough for your tax authority is a question for your accountant; see Are photos of receipts acceptable for taxes?
iPhone only.

Price

The first 30 receipts are free, no account needed. Premium, which unlocks the exports, is $1.99 per month or $14.99 per year in the US (Canada: C$1.99 and C$19.99; euro countries: €1.99 and €17.99).

Frequently asked questions

Can I scan many receipts in a row with ReceiptIQ AI?

Yes. The live camera takes each receipt when it is flat and in focus, and further receipts wait in a queue while one is being read. The fair-use limit is 30 receipts per 24 hours, and the first 30 receipts in the app are free.

How do I get my receipts to my accountant?

Go to Settings, Your Data, Data Export, pick the period and optionally a category, and export a CSV, an items CSV or a PDF with every receipt photo on its own page. You send the file yourself; there is no accountant portal. Export is a Premium feature.

Does ReceiptIQ AI handle GST, HST and VAT?

It reads tax lines such as GST, HST, PST, QST, VAT, BTW and MwSt, files them in a Tax category and totals the tax paid in the export. It does not calculate a tax return or an input tax credit.

What happens to receipts older than a year?

A date read from a receipt is accepted only if it is within the past year and not in the future; otherwise the app stamps today's date. Check and edit the date on older receipts.

Does it connect to my bank or accountant?

No. There is no bank linking, no email-inbox connection and no account. You can import a bank statement PDF or photo yourself, and you hand exported files to your accountant yourself.