COM23130 - Assessing: CTSA assessments: handling non-COTAX charges
You can only use COTAX to issue assessing output (Word 46KB) for a CTSA AP or to make a CT assessment for a CT Pay and File AP.
You raise non-COTAX charges by following the guidance at COM23132.
These include assessments in respect of
- Paragraph 52 Schedule 18 FA 1998 - Recovery of over-repayments for APs ending on or after 01/07/1999
- Section 252 (1) (b) ICTA 1988 - Recovery of excessive Tax Credit payment or set-off
- Section 956 / 957 ITA 2007 (or Schedules 13 / 16 ICTA 1988)
And
- For APs ending before 01/07/1999 (the CTSA appointed day)
- Section 455 CTA 2010 (formerly S419 ICTA 1988)
- Section 747 ICTA 1988 - Controlled Foreign Companies
- Section 30 TMA 1970 - Recovery of over-repayments
You can see a list of common non-COTAX assessment types. For legislation applying to this subject, see COM23013.
Handling non-COTAX charges with SAFE
Until 1 November 2010, non-COTAX charges were raised using a manual assessment/amendment set and accounted for on Corporation Tax Assessing (CTA) by input into the IRIS system.
From 1 November 2010
- All un-cleared CTA charges were re-referenced and moved to SAFE
- CTA charges that were cleared by 29 October 2010 were moved to a Controlled Access Folder (CAF) archive which can only be accessed by nominated staff.
SAFE is a licensed product and only a limited number of staff have access. To create, standover or amend charges on SAFE you’ll need to ask your SAFE user to do it for you.
Making a new non-COTAX assessment using SEES
You use the new SEES 310(Z) assessment set to raise or amend non-COTAX charges and your SAFE user will record them on SAFE. You can get the SEES 310(Z) assessment set at Excel > SEES > Forms and Letters > under the ‘SAFE’ category.
To make a new assessment using SEES you enter the appropriate statutory wording and ‘Particulars’ into the assessment set. You should use the appropriate wording from the list of common non-COTAX assessment types. This list also shows the relevant SAFE charge types.
SAFE also uses the COTAX UTR as the main reference for a company and will automatically take the company name, Registered Office Address and most signals direct from the COTAX record.
Dealing with Appeals and Postponements
Non-COTAX assessments generally carry a right of appeal and postponement. For further information please see the guidance at COM10001 onwards and the Appeals, Reviews and Tribunals Guidance Manual (ARTG) for general advice on appeals and postponements.
Postponements or informal standovers in respect of non-COTAX charges are recorded on SAFE. SAFE is an accounting system that records postponements or standovers (it uses the term ‘standover’ to cover both) but it does not record any information on appeals. There is no online SAFE work list support for appeals against non-COTAX assessments.
However, each quarter the CT Process team (CTIAA) produce a list of all ‘standovers’ on the SAFE system. They issue these lists to the responsible offices in January, April, July and October. Case owners must update the list and return it to the CT Process team within 2 months of its issue. Cases on the list must be actively managed and you can find guidance on how to do this at COM10120.
The list does not include cases where there has been no postponement or standover of the tax and or penalty charge. It is therefore important that appeals against non-COTAX charges where there is no postponement or standover are effectively managed by caseworkers and their managers.
You can use the SEES form 64-4(Ack/Post) to acknowledge appeals and postponement applications for non-COTAX assessments. This appeal form is not CT specific and can be used for dealing with other appeals which can’t be handled in COTAX.
Amending charges
If you need to amend a non-COTAX assessment following receipt of an appeal, you use the SEES assessment/amendment set to make the amendment. However, the accounting and collection action depends on whether the charge is held on SAFE or is in the CAF archive.
Before preparing an amendment you should check with your SAFE user to see if the charge is recorded on SAFE. If so, check how much of the charge has been paid. The Action Guide at COM23132 explains what you need to do.
Working with archived charges
Nominated staff have access to the central CAF of archived charges to check dates of payments etc before amending charges. The Action Guide at COM23132 tells you how to reduce or increase an archived charge.
Please note: SAFE users must not make any repayments in respect of archived charges. These must be referred to the DMB SAFE Unit (Accounts Office, Shipley) by completing the appropriate SAFE repayment stencil (SAFE 1) / SAFE charge amendment stencil (SAFE 2). DMB SAFE Unit will the make the repayment.
For a list of forms to use in particular situations, see COM23131.
