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.
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Your company or organisation's Corporation Tax payment is normally due by nine months and one day 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:
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 submit your return on time you may have to pay a late filing penalty - even if you don't have to pay any Corporation Tax.
Virtually all companies and organisations must submit their Company Tax Returns online. You must also pay any Corporation Tax that's due electronically.
Additionally your tax computations and, with very few exceptions, the accounts that form part of your Company Tax Return, must be submitted in Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) format.
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 and one day 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:
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
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.
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'.
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. You have 12 months after your company’s filing date (which is normally 12 months after your accounting period end date) to amend your Company Tax Return. So if you request the repayment:
As well as getting a repayment of Corporation Tax you might also get repayments of:
Interest paid when Corporation Tax is overpaid or paid early
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.
If you want your repayment paid to you straightaway you can choose to have it paid either to:
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 finally, don't forget to complete the appropriate checkbox(es) of your Company Tax Return, when:
