Corporation tax – online filing updates
HMRC have issued a press release in relation to the introduction of compulsory online corporation tax filing. As is well known, Company tax returns delivered after 31 March 2011 for accounting periods ending after 31 March 2010 must be filed online in a specified data format (known as InlineXBRL or iXBRL). Corporation tax payments must also be made electronically from April 2011.
Companies and organisations that are still submitting paper returns are advised to familiarise themselves with the available online filing options which includes HMRC’s own software as well as commercial software.
There will only be two exemptions from online filing:
- Where the directors and company secretary are all practising members of a religious society or order whose beliefs are incompatible with the use of electronic methods of communication.
- Where a company or organisation is subject to a ‘winding-up order’.
The press release also includes information on the recent introduction by HMRC of a new joint filing service for company accounts. The new service means that companies with relatively straightforward financial affairs, or their agents, can send their accounts in iXBRL format to HMRC as part of their Company Tax Return, and also send these accounts, or an abbreviated version, to Companies House.