CT600 Tax Return Filing in Rowledge: Preparing and Filing Your Company Tax Return with HMRC

A CT600 is the form used to submit a Company Tax Return to HMRC. It reports a company's Corporation Tax position for an accounting period, setting out details such as the company's income and chargeable gains, the deductions and reliefs claimed, and the resulting Corporation Tax liability that has been calculated. The CT600 is HMRC's own form, and the return is submitted to HMRC rather than to Companies House. It is usually supported by a Corporation Tax computation and, in many cases, a copy of the company's accounts.

A company normally needs to submit a Company Tax Return when HMRC has issued a notice to deliver one, or where the company has a Corporation Tax liability or other reason to report to HMRC for an accounting period. That includes trading companies, many dormant companies, and companies that have only recently started trading or stopped trading partway through a period. Because the requirement depends on the company's own circumstances and on correspondence from HMRC, it is worth checking your position rather than assuming you either definitely do or definitely do not need to file.

Yes, they are two separate filings with two separate audiences. Statutory accounts are prepared under the applicable accounting framework and filed with Companies House, where they become part of the public record. The CT600 is a tax return submitted to HMRC. Although the accounting figures in your accounts often form the starting point for the Corporation Tax calculation, the two documents serve different purposes and can legitimately show different numbers, because the tax return reflects tax adjustments rather than pure accounting figures.

No. The Corporation Tax computation is the working schedule that takes your accounting profit and adjusts it to arrive at taxable profit, showing how items such as disallowable expenditure, non-taxable income, capital allowances, and losses brought forward have been treated. The CT600 is the return form on which the outcome of that computation is reported to HMRC. In practice the two go hand in hand: a well-prepared computation supports the figures entered on the CT600 and gives you a clear audit trail for the position taken.

There is no separate micro-entity version of the CT600, and being a micro-entity does not by itself remove Corporation Tax obligations. If HMRC has issued a notice to deliver a Company Tax Return, the company will normally need to complete and submit a CT600 for the relevant accounting period, regardless of its size. Whether any Corporation Tax is actually payable is a different question and depends on the company's taxable profit and circumstances; a micro-entity may have a Corporation Tax liability, or it may have none. It is also worth noting that the accounting framework a company uses, such as FRS 105, does not determine its Corporation Tax liability — the tax position follows the tax rules applied to the figures, not the framework used to prepare the accounts.

At a minimum, you will need the company's accounting records and a set of accounts for the accounting period, together with details of income, expenditure, and any assets purchased that may attract capital allowances. Useful supporting information includes prior year computations showing losses or other amounts carried forward, details of any reliefs claimed, records of any Corporation Tax already paid, and correspondence from HMRC. Having everything organised before the work begins makes the preparation smoother and reduces the risk of queries arising once the return has been submitted.

Taxable profit starts with the accounting profit shown in your accounts, but it is not simply the same figure. Adjustments are made to reflect tax rules that differ from accounting treatment. Common examples include adding back expenditure that is not allowable for tax, deducting income that is not taxable, and replacing accounting depreciation with capital allowances. Items such as losses brought forward, charitable donations treated in a particular way, or disallowable entertaining costs may also affect the calculation. The result of these adjustments is the taxable profit on which Corporation Tax, if any, is calculated.

No, they are separate obligations. Filing a CT600 is about reporting your Corporation Tax position to HMRC and providing the supporting computation and accounts. Payment is about settling any Corporation Tax that is due, and it is dealt with under its own arrangements and timescales, which do not necessarily line up with the filing date. It is possible to have filed a return but not yet paid, or to have a return showing no liability at all. Keeping both elements on your radar is important, which is why many companies ask their accountant to handle the filing and to make the payment position clear.