Keeping Corporation Tax Records

All companies are required by law to maintain records. The precise records your company needs to keep will depend on the size of its business but they must be adequate to enable your company to send in a correct Company Tax Return.

• These records must be kept for six years from the end of the accounting period. If, at the six-year point, a return is under enquiry, then this period is extended to the end of the enquiry.
• Records to be kept include records of all receipts and expenses and, for companies with trades involving dealing with goods, records of sales and purchases.

The Companies Act separately requires registered companies to keep accounting records. And for most companies, in most situations, this will be enough to satisfy the Corporation Tax requirement as long as records are kept for up to six years after the end of the accounting period to which they relate.

Your company may need to keep its record longer than six years if it makes its return late.

Your company will not need to keep the original records if all the information they contain is kept in a legible and acceptable alternative such as on an optical imaging system. However, your company must keep the original vouchers for tax deducted or for tax credits.

Small incorporated businesses may find the booklet 'Self Assessment: A guide to keeping records for the Self Employed' (SA/BK3) useful. The booklet's guidance will generally apply to them.

All companies may also find the booklet 'A general guide to Corporation Tax Self Assessment' (CTSA/BK4) useful.

The booklets are also free from the CTSA Orderline.

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