CT600 Tax Return Filing in Leigh-on-Sea: Prepare and Submit Your Company Tax Return to HMRC

A CT600 is the formal name for the Company Tax Return that a limited company submits to HMRC to report its Corporation Tax position. It sets out the company's income, allowable deductions and the resulting taxable profit for the accounting period covered, together with the Corporation Tax that follows from those figures. The CT600 is filed with HMRC, not Companies House, and it sits alongside but is entirely separate from the statutory accounts a company prepares for its members and for Companies House. In most cases the figures in the return are supported by a Corporation Tax computation that shows how the accounting profit has been adjusted.

Whether a company needs to file a CT600 depends on its circumstances. Broadly, a company must file a Company Tax Return when HMRC has issued a notice to deliver one, and a company that comes within the charge to Corporation Tax may also need to notify HMRC that it is chargeable. That can be the case even where no tax ultimately ends up being payable, for example where profits are covered by reliefs or losses available to the company. Because the position varies from company to company, it is worth checking your own situation rather than assuming a filing requirement does not apply, and we can help you work out what applies to your company.

Statutory accounts and the CT600 are prepared for different purposes and go to different places. Statutory accounts present the company's financial position and performance and are filed with Companies House under the company law requirements that apply to the company. The CT600 is a tax return submitted to HMRC that reports the company's Corporation Tax position for the period. The two are connected because the accounts usually provide the starting point for the tax figures, but they are separate filings with separate requirements, and completing one does not automatically satisfy the other.

No — they are related but not the same thing. The Corporation Tax computation is the working paper that takes your accounting profit and adjusts it to arrive at the taxable profit used for Corporation Tax purposes. Typical adjustments include adding back expenditure that is not allowable for tax and accounting for items that are treated differently under the tax rules, such as capital expenditure dealt with under the capital allowances regime. The CT600 is the return itself, which reports the results of that computation to HMRC. In practice both are prepared together, because you need a sound computation before the CT600 can be completed accurately.

Yes, it may well need to. There is no separate micro-entity version of the CT600, and qualifying as a micro-entity does not by itself remove a company's Corporation Tax filing obligations. Micro-entity status affects how the statutory accounts are prepared and filed with Companies House; it does not determine the company's Corporation Tax liability. If HMRC has issued a notice to deliver a return, or the company is within the charge to Corporation Tax, a CT600 may need to be submitted. Equally, not every micro-entity ends up owing Corporation Tax — whether any tax is payable depends on the company's taxable profits and the reliefs available to it, which is a separate question from whether a return is required.

The CT600 goes to HMRC and the statutory accounts go to Companies House, so the two are separate processes and one does not have to be completed before the other can be started. In practice, though, the figures in the CT600 should be consistent with the company's accounting records and the accounts it prepares, and most companies find it easier to finalise their accounts first so the numbers line up. If the accounts are not yet ready, a CT600 can still be prepared from the underlying accounting records, but the position should be reviewed carefully before the return is submitted.

You will typically need the company's accounting records for the period, a trial balance or draft accounts, a breakdown of income and expenses, and details of any items that need special tax treatment. Information on capital expenditure and any reliefs being claimed is also useful, along with the company's registration details, including its Unique Taxpayer Reference. Previous returns and computations help with checking brought-forward losses or adjustments carried over. Supplying complete records early makes the CT600 Tax Return Filing process smoother and reduces the chance of follow-up questions later.

No. Filing the CT600 and paying any Corporation Tax that is due are two separate obligations, each with its own deadline, and meeting one does not discharge the other. The return reports the company's position to HMRC and works out the liability; payment is a separate transaction that needs to be made through the appropriate HMRC channel. Even where no tax is payable, a filing requirement may still exist, so it is important not to assume that a nil liability removes the need to submit a Company Tax Return.