Partnerships
I want to register a new partnership and its members, or register a new partnership member of an existing partnership.
With effect from February 2009, the set up of partnerships and their members will be centralised.
A Partnership Return (SA800) requires a declaration of the name, residence and tax reference (Unique Taxpayer Reference - UTR) for each partner. An online Partnership return will fail validation and be rejected if the UTR for each and every partner has not been entered.
Substitute UTRs, such as 99999 99999 have been used by customers and HMRC staff in circumstances other than the exceptional situations they were designed for, such as for some non UK resident partners. We have decided therefore to introduce a centralisation unit specifically for the set up of partnerships and this will be effective from February 2009 within the Central Agents Authorisation Team (CAAT) in Longbenton.
From that date all partnerships and their members will be required to use a UTR that is exactly that, a Unique Taxpayer Reference that has been issued by HMRC. The use of substitute UTRs will no longer be acceptable. Our previously published guidance that a substitute UTR can be entered as a workaround is withdrawn with effect from 31 January 2009 because its continued use would undermine the benefits of centralised set up and our risk assessment process.
The centralisation unit in CAAT will respond to customer requests concerning the set up of a partnership and its members. This will include all trading and investment partnerships, whether a general partnership, limited liability partnership (LLP) or limited partnership (LP) and all it’s members, whether they are individuals, companies or other entities, resident in the UK or outside the UK. HMRC’s intranet guidance will be changed to reflect this. CWF1 form should be used to notify CAAT of the partnership and its members and should specify the nature of the partnership business:
The centralisation unit will also respond in real time to partnership registrations at Companies House. These will be LLPs and LPs. This will enable the set-up of partnerships and the linkage of their members well in advance of filing obligation dates.
This centralised set up strategy for partnerships will enable our customers to file more accurately whether by paper return or electronically. It means that we treat our customers fairly in the risk assessment process.
From the 1 February 2009, the use of substitute UTRs means that the return is strictly incorrect and may result in the return being sent back to the sender following compliance action in order that the entry may be corrected. If the return is not corrected within the additional time allowed, late filing penalties may be imposed. HMRC must have the correct information to conduct a risk assessment of the partnership and its members; this risk assessment being a cornerstone of the ITSA process
Where a partner is a limited company, the tax reference to be entered on the Partnership Return for that individual corporate partner is the 10 digit Corporation Tax UTR.
Contact details for CAAT are:
CAA Team
Longbenton
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
