IPSA chief Sir Ian Kennedy launched a bid to keep MPs ' receipts private . All MPs ' expenses receipts will have to be published after a court threw out a bid to keep them private . The Commons expenses watchdog , the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority , had launched a bid to keep MPs ' original claims secret . But the Court of Appeal ruled today that it must release all the copies of receipts and invoices which have been submitted by politicians . The legal action centred on whether copies of original documents should be published - rather than a summary of the claim put in by MPs . The case stems from a Freedom of Information request to Ipsa in 2010 - just a year after the MPs ' expenses scandal erupted - asking for three specific receipts submitted by politicians in support of their claims . But instead of providing the original receipts , Ipsa sent back a typed-up summary of the claims . The Information Commissioner later ruled that the receipts themselves should have been published - but Ipsa continued to fight the case . Today 's ruling comes six years after the MPs expenses scandal broke - triggering the most explosive British political scandal in a generation . Voters reacted with fury at the list of extraordinary claims submitted by MPs - with jaw-dropping details of fraud , fake receipts and payouts for ornamental duck houses and moat cleaning . Yet , today 's latest court ruling shows the the scandal has refused to die , six years and almost two general elections later . After dismissing the privacy appeal today , Lord Justice Richards said the receipts could still not be published in full - to give Ipsa time to appeal again to the Supreme Court . An Ipsa spokesman said after the ruling : 'We need to study the judgement carefully . The court made clear that this is an important test case with implications not just for Ipsa but for all other public bodies . 'We were right to test the point of law through an appeal to see whether images of receipts add anything additional to all the information about MPs ' expenditure that we already release . ' The spokesman added : 'We remain completely committed to openness and transparency and already publish a detailed breakdown of every claim made by every MP . ' Lord Justice Richards said that although the appeal was concerned with three specific invoices or receipts 'it is a test case and has important implications for Ipsa and , no doubt , for other public authorities ' . He said Ipsa publishes details of claims on its website but does not publish copies of the supporting invoices or receipts . In 2010 Ben Leapman , then a Sunday Telegraph reporter , made a request to Ipsa for the information contained in three such documents to be sent to him . Parliament 's expenses watchdog has fought plans to keep MPs ' original receipts secret - arguing that it should only have to publish a summary of their claims . The MPs expenses revealed a series of extravagant claims - including for the repair of a 'Stockholm ' duck house by Tory MP Sir Peter Viggers . The judge said Ipsa responded 'with a transcript of information contained in the documents , including information additional to that published on its website , but refused to provide copies of the documents themselves ' . Ipsa was set up to restore public confidence following the 2009 expenses scandal , which led to some MPs being jailed . In that same year , parliamentary authorities published more than a million receipts online - with details such as addresses and account numbers hidden . However , Ipsa decided in 2010 not to publish receipts routinely , restricting its regular releases to a summary of each claim . It said there were a number of factors which had led it to decide that there was `` insufficient public benefit '' in publishing receipts and invoices . In a letter to the Information Commissioner , it said : 'Primarily , a trial of extracting and redacting receipts and invoices for the purposes of publication showed that the cost would be in excess of £1 million for additional staffing and IT costs alone , compared to the approximate £250,000 cost under the chosen model . ' It said 'on balance ' it took the view that providing images of receipts or invoices would be 'disproportionate in terms of costs , insufficiently beneficial in terms of transparency and represented a higher risk in terms of data protection ' .
Commons expenses watchdog launched bid to keep MPs ' claims private . Court of Appeal ruled it must release all the copies of receipts submitted . It means voters will be able to check over MPs ' original expenses claims .