When you form a new Limited company you will receive a letter from HMRC, this will contain a Form CT41G Corporation Tax information for new companies. This should be received within several days by post at your registered office address; once the company has been registered with Companies House. On the odd occasion you don't receive the form, you will need to inform HMRC within three months from the date your company has started trading (is active). You can do this via HMRCs online service, or simply contact our accountant and we can help you achieve this.HMRC will consider your company to be ‘active’ for Corporation Tax purposes when you are actually trading. For example, while carrying out your business activities, trading and receiving income.Dormant companies: HMRC would not consider your company active for Corporation Tax if your company is ‘dormant’. So for example, if you have set up your company but you are not yet active or not trading and bringing in any income, then you wouldn't be liable to pay Corporation Tax.
Corporation Tax is paid before the company tax return is filed.
Corporation tax is due before the deadline of filing your company tax return. The deadline for your payment will depend on your taxable profits. This is very different from Self-Assessment and VAT as the date of filing returns for Self-Assessment and VAT are usually the same. A lot of business owners can find this confusing so if you are unsure please do make sure you consult with us today, where we can talk through your tax dates. You can contact us here for some advice.
Corporation Tax Dates & Deadlines
The deadline for paying corporation tax is referred to the normal due date. The deadlines will vary dependent on factors such as the profit your company makes, so one company may have a completely different due date to another. HMRC expects all owed tax payments to be submitted electronically. More information about this can be found out on the HMRC website.
Dates for companies with £1.5 million or less taxable profits:
If your company has a profit of £1.5 million per year or less, the Corporation tax is normally nine months and one day after the end of your Corporation Tax accounting period.
Date for companies with more than £1.5 million taxable profits:
If your company has a larger profit over the £1.5 million mark, you will be expected to pay your Corporation tax in installments. More information about paying on installments can be found here.
I am unable to pay Corporation tax on time what can I do?
If you are unable to pay your Corporation tax on time, HMRC will charge you interest on what is owed to them. You may also be fined for not paying enough on your installments or you go out of your way to stall or fail to pay your regular installments.Any penalty charges will be applied once you have submitted your Company Tax Return and HMRC have had time to determine your case. Find out more information about penalty charges here.
What is the deadline for filing my Company Tax Return?
This is referred to as the statutory filing date. You are expected to file the companies Tax Return with 12 months of the end of the company's tax accounting period. If you file the accounts late HMRC will charge your company an automatic penalty.The rules and regulations around tax can be a little overwhelming. If you are struggling to work out what you should be paying and when, then do not hesitate to contact us for some guidance.
