CT600 Tax Return Filing in Tiverton — Prepare and File Your Company Tax Return with HMRC

A CT600 is the form HMRC uses for a Company Tax Return. It is the document through which a company reports its income, expenses, profits and overall Corporation Tax position for a specific accounting period. The CT600 works alongside a Corporation Tax computation, which sets out how the accounting figures were adjusted to arrive at taxable profit. Together they give HMRC the picture of what the company has earned, what adjustments have been made for tax purposes and what, if any, Corporation Tax liability arises.

Yes, they are two separate filings. Statutory accounts are prepared under an accounting framework and delivered to Companies House, where they become part of the public record. The CT600 is a Company Tax Return submitted to HMRC for Corporation Tax purposes. Both are usually built from the same accounting records, but the figures reported can differ because the tax calculation may require adjustments that have no place in the accounts. The two also have different audiences, different requirements and their own filing arrangements, so filing accounts at Companies House does not on its own deal with your Corporation Tax reporting.

No, though they go hand in hand. The Corporation Tax computation is the working document that starts with your accounting profit and adjusts it to reach taxable profit — adding back items that are not allowable for tax, deducting reliefs and capital allowances, and dealing with items such as non-trading income or losses brought forward. The CT600 is the actual return that reports the resulting figures to HMRC. In practice you need both: a sound computation behind a correctly completed return.

Companies that fall within the charge to Corporation Tax are generally expected to notify HMRC and deliver a Company Tax Return, and that applies to small and micro-entity companies just as it does to larger ones. There is no separate micro-entity version of the CT600 — the same form is used. Whether a particular company must file for a particular period depends on its own circumstances, such as whether it traded, what income it received and whether HMRC has issued a notice requiring a return. A company that has been dormant or inactive may still have a filing obligation, so it is worth checking your position rather than assuming.

In most cases you will need your year-end accounts or a trial balance, the exact dates of the accounting period, a breakdown of income and expenses, details of fixed asset additions and disposals, information about capital allowances claims, interest and other loan relationships, investment or dividend income, charitable donations, expenses that may need to be added back for tax, and any losses brought forward. Your company's HMRC reference and registration details are needed too. The precise list depends on what the company actually does, which is why the figures are usually reviewed before the computation is finalised.

The starting point is normally the company's profit before tax as shown in the accounts. From there, the Corporation Tax computation applies the adjustments required by tax rules — for example adding back expenditure that is not allowable, replacing accounting depreciation with the appropriate capital allowances treatment, removing non-trading income that is taxed differently, and taking account of losses brought forward. What remains is taxable profit, on which any Corporation Tax liability is based. It is important to keep the two ideas apart: your accounting framework governs how the accounts are prepared, but it does not by itself determine your taxable profit or your Corporation Tax bill.

No — filing and paying are separate obligations. Submitting the Company Tax Return tells HMRC what the company's position is; it does not itself settle any tax due. Payment is made separately, usually electronically, and the date by which tax must be paid is not necessarily the same as the date by which the return must be filed. A company can also submit a return showing no Corporation Tax liability at all. It is worth diarising both the filing and the payment side so that neither is overlooked.

HMRC sets the filing date for a Company Tax Return based on the company's accounting period, and delivering the return after that date can lead to penalties, with interest potentially accruing on any tax paid late. How much is charged depends on how late the return is and on the company's circumstances, so the practical position varies from case to case. If you think a return will be late, it is usually better to speak to HMRC or to an adviser early rather than leaving it unaddressed. We can help you get the outstanding computation and return prepared so the position can be regularised.