COM40001 - Case records: setting up case records: introduction

A COTAX record is required for 

• Companies which are incorporated or registered under the UK Companies Acts
• Unincorporated associations, which are bodies not incorporated or registered under the UK Companies Acts but are liable to CT, such as clubs and voluntary associations
• Limited Liability Partnerships that are in liquidation. (For more information on these see the Insolvency Manual)
• Non-resident companies that are trading through a permanent establishment or agency in the UK
• Non-resident companies that are not trading through a permanent establishment or agency in the UK and are not liable to CT, but wish to carry out construction work in the UK

Companies incorporated or registered under the UK Companies Acts

HM Revenue and Customs receives information about new companies directly from Companies House and records are automatically set up on COTAX.

Where a case needs manual intervention, it will be listed on Work List LNTC (List of New and Transferred Cases), showing the action that is needed. These are cases where

• The company name exceeds 56 characters
• The company name contains characters that are not valid in COTAX
• The Registered Office address is longer than the available fields in COTAX
• The CRN for the case is already associated with a record held on COTAX
• There is no post code or the post code shown is not recognised by COTAX

Industrial and Provident Societies, Credit Union and Unit Trust schemes

When the Centre for Revenue Intelligence (CRI) identifies the following, the details are passed to the CT processing office

• New Industrial and Provident Societies (including Credit Unions)
• New unit trust schemes authorised by the Department of Trade and Industry

You need to set up a COTAX record for these cases.

CT41G issue

COTAX issues form CT41G for incorporated companies the day after the company record is set up, unless it has been listed on LNTC for further action. This allows a new company maximum time to comply with its tax obligations.

To satisfy its obligations under S55 Finance Act 2004, a company may provide the information required by law by completing a CT41G or providing the information in a letter, signed by an officer of the company, including a declaration that the information is correct and complete to the best of their knowledge.

You can issue or reissue a CT41G by entering ‘Y’ in the ‘CT41G To Be Issued?’ field in Function ACTP (Amend CT Payer). If the COTAX record is transferred to another office on the same day as a request to issue a CT41G, the form will show the details of the new office.

When you receive a completed CT41G, you should send details to the

• PAYE processing office and update the company’s COTAX record

And

• Where the company have ticked ‘If the company is likely to pay interest or royalties on any other annually reoccurring payment for which the company has to make payments and interest return on form CT61?’ complete the SAFE CT61 SEES stencil and pass it to your SAFE user to set the case up for you. See COM23135 for further guidance.

Form CT610

A form CT610 (Corporation Tax Important Dates) is issued 90 days after the record has been set up on COTAX

The form sets out key dates by reference to the first live accounting period (AP) on the record. An updated form is issued each time the start and / or end dates of that AP are amended, until the first return is logged or it is 36 months after the case was set up, whichever is the earliest

Using Function MAPD (Maintain AP Details) and in certain circumstances Function ACTP (Amend CT Payer) will trigger the issue of updated forms CT610.

Unincorporated associations

Unincorporated associations are bodies not incorporated under the UK Companies Act but which are liable to Corporation Tax, for example clubs and voluntary associations. Within local offices you are usually informed of the existence of these associations and you set up a COTAX record.

Non-resident companies trading in the UK through a permanent establishment or agency have an obligation to notify their liability to Corporation Tax. Local offices may become aware of these companies and must set up a COTAX record for them.

Non-resident companies that are not trading through a permanent establishment or agency in the UK but wish to carry out construction work in the UK must apply the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).

A COTAX record used to be needed to set up a record on the CIS IT system, but that is no longer the case. If one of these companies contacts you, do not set up a COTAX record. Ask them to contact HMRC Residency on telephone number 0845 0700 0040, or if calling from abroad +44 151 210 2222.

You should transfer any cases which you come across in your local office in day to day work to the CIS (NR) team in CAR Residency using MUID 290400. (This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)

Group Payment records

Only members of the Group Payment team in Banking Operations Cumbernauld set up a Group Payment record for a Group Payment Arrangement Word 33KB) (GPA). For more information about GPAs, see section ‘Group Payment Arrangements’ (COM96000 onwards).