CT600 Tax Return Filing in Callington — Prepare and Submit Your Company Tax Return to HMRC

A CT600 is the form HMRC uses for a Company Tax Return. It reports a company's Corporation Tax position for an accounting period — the income, the deductions and reliefs claimed, and the resulting Corporation Tax liability or repayment position — and it is submitted to HMRC rather than to Companies House. The CT600 is accompanied by the supporting accounts and computation that show how the figures were arrived at, and it is signed off by an authorised person on behalf of the company.

Most UK companies that are within the charge to Corporation Tax will need to file a Company Tax Return for each accounting period, even where no Corporation Tax ends up being payable. Whether a particular company has a filing obligation can depend on its circumstances, including whether it has been dormant, whether HMRC has issued a notice to deliver a return, and when it started trading. If you are unsure whether your company needs to file, it is worth checking rather than assuming, because the obligation is not always obvious.

Yes, they are two separate filings with two separate bodies. Statutory accounts are prepared under an accounting framework and filed at Companies House as part of the company's public record. The CT600 is the Company Tax Return submitted to HMRC to report the Corporation Tax position. The accounts often provide the starting figures for the tax work, but the CT600 is not a copy of the accounts, and filing one does not satisfy the other.

No. The computation is the working that starts with the accounting profit and arrives at the taxable profit and the Corporation Tax liability, applying the relevant tax rules to items such as depreciation, capital allowances and disallowable expenditure. The CT600 is the return form on which those results are reported to HMRC. In practice the computation is usually submitted alongside the CT600 as supporting information, which is why the two are often spoken about together.

There is no separate micro-entity version of the CT600 — the same Company Tax Return applies to companies generally. A company that meets the micro-entity criteria may still be required to submit a Company Tax Return and will use its accounting records and prepared accounts as the basis for the Corporation Tax calculation. Whether Corporation Tax is actually payable depends on the company's own taxable position for the period, and that is a different question from whether a return has to be filed.

Typically we need your accounting records for the period, the prepared accounts, details of income and expenditure, information on fixed assets and any purchases that may qualify for capital allowances, details of any losses brought forward, and records of any other income or reliefs. Details of the accounting period, the company's registration details and any earlier returns or computations are also helpful. The more complete and organised the records, the smoother the CT600 Tax Return Filing process tends to be.

Taxable profit usually starts from the accounting profit shown in the accounts and then goes through a series of adjustments. Expenditure that accounting treats as a cost but tax does not allow is added back, capital allowances may replace depreciation, and income or costs that fall into a different period for tax purposes are moved accordingly. Reliefs and losses may then be applied. The result is the taxable profit on which Corporation Tax is calculated, and it can be higher or lower than the accounting profit.

No, filing and payment are separate obligations. Filing the CT600 tells HMRC what the company's position is; payment settles any Corporation Tax that is due. A company can file a return showing no liability, and a company can have a liability that must be paid by its own due date regardless of when the return is submitted. Keeping the two deadlines distinct is one of the simplest ways to avoid unnecessary problems.

Yes. A company can appoint an agent to prepare and submit its Company Tax Return, and many businesses choose to do so because of the technical work involved in the computation and the adjustments from accounting profit to taxable profit. As your agent we can deal with the preparation and the HMRC filing, while the company remains responsible for the accuracy of the information provided and for paying any Corporation Tax that is due.

If a Company Tax Return is filed after its due date, HMRC can apply penalties and charge interest on any tax paid late. The amount depends on how late the return is and on the company's circumstances, so it is not something that can be reduced to a single figure. If you think a return is going to be late, or you have received a notice or penalty from HMRC, it is worth speaking to someone promptly so the position can be reviewed and the return brought up to date.