Corporation Tax enquiries

If HMRC is concerned about your Company’s compliance history or your business is considered to be a high risk trader, HMRC can commence an investigation into your Companies Tax affairs.

The ultimate objective of the investigation will be to determine if the Corporation Tax paid, was correct.

We can help your business by providing highly technical advice on accounting and tax matters. In a recent case, we advised our client and subsequently agreed with HMRC that our client had failed to claim valuable tax allowances. This changed the course of the enquiry, from HMRC seeking a payment from the client, to calculating the repayment due to the client.

As a company, the payment and filing deadlines need to be met, otherwise HMRC will issue penalties. If you have a reasonable excuse for late filing and payment, we can assist with appealing the penalties.

The deadline for your Corporation Tax payment will depend on your taxable profits.

If your business has taxable profits of up to £1.5 million, you must pay your Corporation Tax no later than 9 months and 1 day after the end of your accounting period. Your accounting period is usually your financial year, but you may have 2 accounting periods in the year you set up your company.

If your company has taxable profits of more than £1.5 million, you will instead pay your Corporation Tax in instalments.

If you have not paid HMRC the correct amount of corporation tax by the deadline, it will not only charge you interest, it also has the power to take enforcement action to obtain outstanding tax.

HMRC has significant powers for obtaining information and corporation tax enquiries can be extended to investigate a company director’s personal tax affairs and even those of his family.

Dealing with such an enquiry can be a daunting prospect, which is why expert advice is essential.

For information on how we can help you with HMRC enquiries relating to Corporation Tax, please contact us.