COM96020 - Payments: group payment arrangements: co-ordinating inspector

When the completed Group Payment Arrangement (GPA) contract is returned by the Nominated Company (Word 28KB), the Group Payment Team (Word 28KB) identifies the Large Business Services office (LBS) or Responsible Office which owns the nominated company record. They contact that office to find out the Inspector who normally deals with the Nominated Company and / or the group principal company. That Inspector then acts as the Co-ordinating Inspector. If for any reason the Co-ordinating Inspector role becomes another officer's duty the Group Payment Team should be advised.

The Co-ordinating Inspector should pass on information to other Inspectors with an interest, especially those dealing with other participating companies (Word 28KB) or other members of the same groups(s) not participating in the Arrangement. The Co-ordinating Inspector is then the link between the Group Payment Team and the Taxes network on matters arising from the administration of the GPA.

LBS and LC offices may find it helpful to mark the participating companies’ file covers (if relevant) to show that they are within a GPA for certain APs.

The Group Payment Team carry out some basic checks before agreeing to enter into a GPA. In particular, they check that each participating company has filed a return on time and paid at least 75% of any tax liability for its last but one AP. They will consult with the Co-ordinating Inspector before making a contract with any group containing a company which fails to meet one of these criteria.

For more information about

• The Group Payment Team’s pre-acceptance checks see the Company Taxation Manual (CTM) at CTM97450
• Circumstances in which companies can be added to or removed from an existing GPA, or in which a GPA can be terminated see CTM97470, CTM97540, and CTM97580 - CTM97590

Where a company in a GPA fails to deliver a return within 19 months of the filing date the GPT will advise the Co-ordinating Inspector and request the appropriate Inspector to consider if a Revenue Determination can be made. It is up to the Inspector to decide if a Determination is appropriate and can be raised.