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

A CT600 is the formal name for the Company Tax Return that a UK company submits to HMRC. It reports the company's Corporation Tax position for a particular accounting period, including income, expenses, profits and any reliefs or adjustments that apply, and it is normally submitted alongside a Corporation Tax computation and a set of statutory accounts. The CT600 is an HMRC document — it is not the same as your statutory accounts filed at Companies House, and it is not a VAT Return or a Confirmation Statement. Each of those is a separate filing with its own purpose and its own deadline.

Broadly, a company needs to file a Company Tax Return if HMRC has issued a notice to deliver one, and this applies whether or not the company has made a taxable profit or expects to pay any Corporation Tax. A company may also need to notify HMRC that it has started trading or become liable to Corporation Tax. The exact position depends on the company's own circumstances, such as whether it is active, dormant, trading, or has recently been incorporated or become inactive, so it is worth checking your specific situation rather than assuming a general rule applies to you.

Yes. Statutory accounts are prepared under an accounting framework and filed with Companies House, while the CT600 is a tax return submitted to HMRC. They are related because the figures in the accounts usually form the starting point for the Corporation Tax computation, but they serve different audiences and are filed in different places. Companies House filing and HMRC filing are separate obligations, with separate requirements, so completing one does not satisfy the other. A company can be up to date at Companies House and still have an outstanding Company Tax Return, and the reverse is also true.

It can do. Being a micro-entity affects how the statutory accounts may be prepared, but it does not exempt a company from Corporation Tax or from filing a Company Tax Return where HMRC requires one. There is no separate micro-entity version of the CT600 — it is the same return used by other companies. What differs is often the level of detail in the accounts and the way certain items are treated, which can then flow through into the Corporation Tax computation. Whether or not Corporation Tax is actually payable depends on the company's taxable position, and filing a CT600 is a different obligation from paying any tax that may be due.

No. The Corporation Tax computation is the working document that takes your accounting profit and adjusts it to arrive at taxable profit, showing items such as disallowable expenses, capital allowances and other tax-specific treatments. The CT600 is the return form itself, which reports the resulting figures to HMRC in the required format. In practice the two are prepared together and submitted as a package, because the figures entered on the CT600 need to be supported by the computation. Keeping both in good order makes the filing more straightforward and gives you a clear record of how the numbers were arrived at.

Taxable profit starts with the profit shown in your accounts, but it is rarely identical to it. The Corporation Tax computation adds back expenditure that is not allowable for tax purposes, deducts items that are treated differently for tax, and applies reliefs such as capital allowances where they are available. The result is the taxable profit on which Corporation Tax, if any, is calculated. Because these adjustments depend on the individual transactions and circumstances of the company, they are best reviewed each year rather than carried over from a previous period, particularly if the business has changed how it operates.

Yes. A company can appoint an agent to prepare and submit its Company Tax Return to HMRC, and many businesses choose to do so because the process involves more than copying figures across. Preparing a CT600 properly means gathering the accounting records, reviewing the treatment of income and expenses, building the Corporation Tax computation, checking the adjustments between accounting and taxable profit and then submitting the return in the required format. Using an experienced preparer can save time, reduce the risk of avoidable errors and give you a documented record of how the position was arrived at. You remain responsible for the accuracy of the information provided, so it is important to keep your records complete and up to date.

No, they are two separate obligations. Filing the CT600 tells HMRC what your company's Corporation Tax position is for the period; paying any Corporation Tax that is due is a separate action with its own timing. A company may file its return and have no tax to pay, or it may owe tax that has to be dealt with separately. Because the two are distinct, it is worth planning for both rather than assuming that submitting the return closes the matter. If you are unsure what applies to your company, it is sensible to check your position and seek support where needed.