Company Tax Return (CT600)
Company Tax Return due? Start your CT600 from the books you already keep.
Most of a Company Tax Return is already in your company's records. standing.tax works it out from them and shows you how each figure was reached, so you can check it rather than build it.
You can prepare everything now; sending to HMRC and Companies House opens soon.
What the Company Tax Return is
Your company must file a Company Tax Return if HMRC sends it a 'notice to deliver a Company Tax Return'.(source 1) That is still true if the company made a loss or has no Corporation Tax to pay.(source 2) Filing the return is how you work out the company's Corporation Tax bill, and its profit or loss for Corporation Tax, which is not the same figure as the profit in its accounts.(source 3)
That gap between the profit in the accounts and the profit for Corporation Tax is the part people find hard. It's also the part standing.tax works through with you, one question at a time, from figures already in your books.
When it's due, and when the tax is due
- The return is due 12 months after the end of the accounting period it covers.(source 4)
- Paying the tax has its own, earlier deadline: usually 9 months and one day after the end of the accounting period.(source 5)
- An accounting period for Corporation Tax can't be longer than 12 months, and is normally the same as the financial year your accounts cover.(source 6)
The two dates catch people out because the payment comes first. If you are reading this because a return is already late, our guide to filing your Company Tax Return online goes through the penalties and what to do next.
What standing.tax does
- For a trading company, the Corporation Tax worked out from your books: the taxable profit, capital allowances on the equipment you list, losses carried forward, and the tax after marginal relief.
- Where the law leaves a choice to the company, such as which allowance to claim, the screen says what each option does and leaves the choice to you.
- The Company Tax Return (CT600) is built from the accounts Companies House accepted, so the two always match.
- If your company's return needs something standing.tax doesn't cover, it says so and gives the reason. It never guesses.
- A trading company's return can't be sent from standing.tax yet. The Corporation Tax screen tells you why, in a sentence.
- An email reminder 30 days and 7 days before your accounts, confirmation statement and Corporation Tax deadlines.
How a return is filed
HMRC expect the return to be filed online.(source 7) To file it with HMRC you need commercial software.(source 8) GOV.UK say you can either get an accountant to prepare and file the return, or do it yourself.(source 9)
standing.tax is software, not an accountant, and it never tells you what to claim. If you are unsure whether a cost is allowable or how to pay yourself, that's one for an accountant.
Questions people ask
Do I have to file if the company made a loss?
That is still true if the company made a loss or has no Corporation Tax to pay.(source 2)
Is the Company Tax Return the same as my annual accounts?
No. The accounts go to Companies House and show the company's year. The tax return goes to HMRC and works out the tax. Accounts, tax return and confirmation statement compared sets the three side by side.
A small company or micro-entity still sends its full statutory accounts to HMRC, as part of the Company Tax Return.(source 10)
Can standing.tax tell me what I can claim?
No. It tells you facts about your own records and what each option does, and leaves the choice to you. Whether something is allowable for your company is a question for someone qualified to advise you.
Where these rules come from
Each numbered sentence above is our plain-English version of GOV.UK’s own words, which are below with a link to the page they come from.
- 1.
“Your company or association must file a Company Tax Return if you get a 'notice to deliver a Company Tax Return' from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).”
GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns - 2.
“You must still send a return if you make a loss or have no Corporation Tax to pay.”
GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns - 3.
“When you file your tax return, you work out your: profit or loss for Corporation Tax (this is different from the profit or loss shown in your annual accounts) Corporation Tax bill”
GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns - 4.
“The deadline for your tax return is 12 months after the end of the accounting period it covers.”
GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns - 5.
“There's a separate deadline to pay your Corporation Tax bill. It's usually 9 months and one day after the end of the accounting period.”
GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns - 6.
“It cannot be longer than 12 months and is normally the same as the financial year covered by your company or association's annual accounts.”
GOV.UK: Accounting periods for Corporation Tax - 7.
“You should file your return online.”
GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns - 8.
“You'll need to use commercial software to file your Company Tax Return with HMRC.”
GOV.UK: Accounts and tax returns for private limited companies - 9.
“You can either get an accountant to prepare and file your tax return or do it yourself.”
GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns - 10.
“You must still send statutory accounts to your members and to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as part of your Company Tax Return if you're a small company or micro-entity.”
GOV.UK: Prepare annual accounts for a private limited company
