CT600 Tax Return Filing in Kington: Prepare and File Your Company Tax Return with HMRC

A CT600 is the Company Tax Return used to report a company's Corporation Tax position to HMRC for an accounting period. It sets out the company's income, the deductions and reliefs claimed, the adjustments made to the accounting figures, and the resulting Corporation Tax liability or repayment position. HMRC generally expects the return to be supported by a Corporation Tax computation and, in most cases, a set of accounts submitted alongside it. Whether a particular company has to file depends on its own circumstances — broadly, companies within the charge to Corporation Tax that have been required by HMRC to deliver a return. Some dormant or non-trading companies may not need to file, but they may still have to notify HMRC of their position, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.

Yes — they are two separate filings with two different recipients. Statutory accounts are prepared and filed at Companies House under company law, and they present the company's financial performance and position for its shareholders and the public record. A CT600 is a tax return submitted to HMRC and reports the company's Corporation Tax position. The figures in your accounts usually feed into the tax return, but the two documents serve different purposes and have different content requirements, formats and deadlines. Filing one does not satisfy the other, and each needs to be dealt with in its own right.

Yes, they are related but distinct. The Corporation Tax computation is the working schedule that starts with the accounting profit shown in the accounts and makes the tax adjustments needed to arrive at taxable profit and the Corporation Tax figure. Those adjustments might include adding back expenses that are not allowable for tax, dealing with items taxed differently, and bringing in capital allowances on qualifying expenditure. The CT600 is the return itself — the form that reports the outcome of that computation to HMRC. In practice they travel together, because the computation supports and explains the figures entered on the CT600.

It may do. Being a micro-entity is an accounting classification that affects how accounts are prepared and filed; it does not create a separate tax return and it does not remove a company from Corporation Tax. If a micro-entity company is within the charge to Corporation Tax and HMRC has required it to deliver a Company Tax Return, it will need to complete a CT600 for the period. Whether any Corporation Tax is actually payable is a separate matter that depends on the company's taxable position and circumstances, so not every micro-entity will owe tax simply because a return is filed.

In practice we need a clear picture of the accounting period: the company's accounting records, a trial balance or draft accounts, a breakdown of income and expenses, details of fixed assets and capital expenditure, information about any other income or non-trading items, and details of losses brought forward or reliefs being claimed. Prior year returns and computations are helpful for consistency and for checking anything carried forward. Good record-keeping through the year makes the process far smoother, and where records are incomplete we can help identify what is missing and how to fill the gaps.

The starting point is normally the accounting profit shown in the company's accounts. From there, adjustments are made: expenses that are not allowable for tax purposes are added back, income and deductions treated differently for tax are accounted for, and capital allowances are considered in place of depreciation on qualifying assets. Losses brought forward and other reliefs may also affect the position. The result is the taxable profit, which is then used to work out the Corporation Tax liability. Because the adjustments depend on the company's own transactions, two companies with identical accounting profits can end up with quite different taxable profits.

No. Filing the CT600 is a reporting obligation — it tells HMRC what the company's Corporation Tax position is for the period. Paying Corporation Tax is a separate obligation with its own due dates, and the two do not necessarily happen at the same time. A company might file a return showing no liability at all, or it might have a liability that needs to be settled separately. It is worth keeping both in mind so that neither the return nor any payment is overlooked, particularly where the company has more than one accounting period in progress.

Filing after the due date can lead to penalties and interest from HMRC, and how much depends on factors such as how late the return is and the company's own circumstances. Late filing can also slow down the updating of HMRC's records, which sometimes prompts follow-up correspondence or further questions. If you think a return may already be overdue, acting promptly is usually the most sensible approach — getting the CT600 prepared and submitted as soon as possible, and discussing the position with HMRC or an adviser, tends to be more constructive than waiting.