In this section:

No Corporation Tax to pay and refunds

You'll need to tell HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that your company or organisation has no Corporation Tax to pay or you'll keep getting payment reminders. There are various ways you can tell HMRC but the easiest way is to file your return early or complete an online form.

You must file a Company Tax Return by your filing deadline even if you haven't made any taxable profits.

If you've paid too much Corporation Tax, or a penalty is cancelled or reduced, you'll be due a repayment. You may also get interest on your tax repayment.

If you've paid too much tax but you don't want the repayment immediately you can use the amount you've overpaid to reduce the amount of tax you'll have to pay for another accounting period. You can tell HMRC that when you file your Company Tax Return.

On this page:

If you've no Corporation Tax to pay you must tell HMRC and file your Company Tax Return
How to tell HMRC you've no Corporation Tax to pay
If you're due a Corporation Tax repayment
Getting repaid or carrying a repayment forward
More useful links

If you've no Corporation Tax to pay you must tell HMRC and file your Company Tax Return

Your company or organisation's Corporation Tax payment is normally due by nine months after the end of your Corporation Tax accounting period.

If HMRC has issued your company with a 'Notice to deliver a Company Tax Return' then - even if you have no Corporation Tax to pay for your accounting period for example if you have no taxable profits for the year - you must still:

notify HMRC that you have no Corporation Tax to pay no later than 9 months after the end of your accounting period
file your return - showing nil Corporation Tax is due - no later than 12 months after the end of your accounting period

As soon as you know you have no Corporation Tax to pay you should take both of these steps. This will stop you getting payment reminders.

If you don't file your return on time you may have to pay a late filing penalty - even if you don't have to pay any Corporation Tax.

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How to tell HMRC you've no Corporation Tax to pay

As soon as you know that you've no Corporation Tax to pay you should tell HMRC.

The best way to do this is to file your Company Tax Return early before you are due to pay any Corporation Tax. Your company's payment deadline (known to HMRC as your 'normal due date') is usually nine months after the end of your company's Corporation Tax accounting period.

If you don't tell HMRC that you have no Corporation Tax to pay by sending in your Company Tax Return early, you can tell them by doing any of the following:

Fill in an online form using the link below. You'll need your 17-digit Corporation Tax payment reference number, which you can find on the bottom line of your payslip on the left hand side. The number relates to a specific Corporation Tax accounting period, so you'll need the number relating to the particular accounting period in which you have no Corporation Tax to pay.
Send a signed payslip for the correct accounting period marked 'NIL due' to the address below.
Phone HMRC on Tel 01236 785 057 to tell them that you have no Corporation Tax to pay for the particular accounting period. You'll need your 17-digit Corporation Tax payment reference number.

The address for sending Corporation Tax payslips is:

HM Revenue & Customs
Corporation Tax Unit
Accounts Office
St Mungo's Road
Cumbernauld
Glasgow
G67 1YZ

If you can't find your Corporation Tax payment reference number contact your Corporation Tax Office.

Tell HMRC that you have no Corporation Tax to pay using this online form

Find your Corporation Tax Office

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If you're due a Corporation Tax repayment

If you've paid too much Corporation Tax you'll be due a repayment. You might also get interest on the tax you've overpaid. The way you request a repayment depends on the accounting period it relates to.

Repayment for your latest accounting period

You might have paid too much Corporation Tax for your latest Corporation Tax accounting period because you've overestimated the amount you have to pay before filing your Company Tax Return.

When you fill in your return for your latest accounting period your company is due a repayment if there's a positive figure in Box 93 - ‘Tax overpaid'.

Repayment for a previous accounting period

You might be due a repayment for an earlier Corporation Tax accounting period. This could be because you made a loss in a later accounting period that you want to carry back to set against the profits of your earlier accounting period to reduce your tax bill.

The way you get a repayment for an earlier accounting period depends on when you request it. If you request the repayment:

within 24 months of the end of your earlier accounting period: you can amend your return for that accounting period and send it back to HMRC
more than 24 months after the end of the earlier accounting period: you can write to HMRC requesting the repayment when you send in your return for your latest accounting period

Repayments of other amounts

As well as getting a repayment of Corporation Tax you might also get repayments of:

tax credits for example research and development credits or 'first year' capital allowances
late filing penalties that have been paid and later cancelled or reduced
interest on Corporation Tax overpaid or paid early

Interest paid when Corporation Tax is overpaid or paid early

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Getting repaid or carrying a repayment forward

If you have a Corporation Tax repayment due you can choose how you get your repayment. You can have it paid straightaway or you can carry it forward to set against your company's tax bill for your next accounting period.

But if your company has any unpaid tax for example Pay As You Earn (PAYE) or VAT, HMRC can set off some or all of the Corporation Tax repayment that's due against those debts.

Getting repaid immediately

If you want your repayment paid to you straightaway you can choose to have it paid either to:

your company's bank account - fill in Boxes 149-153 on your Company Tax Return
the bank account of someone you've authorised to receive it, such as your company's accountant or other professional adviser - fill in Boxes 154-160 on your Company Tax Return

Setting off or carrying your repayment forward

Instead of receiving a repayment immediately you may want to carry your repayment forward to your company's next accounting period to offset it against future Corporation Tax due. Or you may use it to offset any other existing Corporation Tax liabilities such as a late filing penalty. You might want to consider this especially if the overpaid amount is small. Your company may receive interest on these funds.

Use Boxes 139 and 140 on your Company Tax Return to tell HMRC that you want to carry forward your repayment. You can choose to carry forward repayments of £20 or less (Box 139) or any larger amount that you choose (Box 140).

…and ‘X' marks the spot

And finally' don't forget to put an ‘X' in the appropriate box(es) on page 1 of your Company Tax Return, when:

a repayment is due for this return period
a repayment is due for an earlier period

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