Companies will only be able to amend tax returns online from next year in a move to modernise corporate tax filing process and end acceptance of amendments by letter

From April 2027, it will be mandatory to file amendments to company tax returns online within standard time limits, affecting the 3.2 million businesses which currently submit corporation tax returns.

Mandatory electronic filing of amendments to returns will be implemented from 1 April 2027.

 

HMRC said: ‘This change will be extensively communicated prior to this date. Companies submitting amendments to returns via correspondence after this date will be asked to submit their amended return online.’

Plans for exceptions are currently out for consultation, as well as feedback on the proposed start date as part of HMRC’s programme to modernise and standardise company tax returns.

 

Exceptions to online amends

 

The consultation sets out four proposed exceptions, where the government does not plan to restrict submission to online filing only.

 

  1. During an enquiry: Amendments submitted for a period under enquiry may still be sent via correspondence or filed online. This proposal does not change that.

 

  1. Joint amended returns: When submitted by a nominated company on behalf of group members under simplified arrangements for group relief joint amended returns will not be in scope of the mandatory online filing requirement.

 

  1. HMRC service downtime: Where HMRC has published that the corporation tax online service is unavailable at the point an amendment must be submitted and the statutory amendment window would otherwise expire, taxpayers may submit an amendment via correspondence.

 

  1. Filing in Welsh: Companies filing in Welsh will not have to submit amendments online. HMRC does not state how long this exception will last.

 

Statutory exemptions

 

The government will retain the regulatory exemptions from the obligation to file online most of which are set out in Regulation 3 of Income and Corporation Taxes (Electronic Communications) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/282).

 

  1. Digital exclusion: Companies that are run entirely by individuals who are practising members of a religious society or order whose beliefs are incompatible with the use of electronic communications are not required to file online.

 

  1. Insolvent companies will be excluded from the legal requirement to file online in circumstances where they:

 

    1. are the subject of a winding up order

 

    1. are having their affairs managed by an administrator

 

    1. are in administrative receivership

 

    1. have a liquidator appointed for the purposes of a creditor’s voluntary winding-up

 

    1. have a liquidator provisionally appointed by a court

 

    1. have a supervisor carrying out functions in relation to a company voluntary arrangement

 

    1. have a compromise or arrangement under Part 26 of Companies Act 2006 in effect

 

    1. are a limited liability partnership (LLP) and either have a liquidator appointed or are the subject of a winding-up order by the court

 

    1. are a company governed by the law of another country and the foreign law equivalents of the circumstances listed above apply

 

Solvent companies being wound up under a members’ voluntary liquidation (MVL) will be required to file any amendments electronically.

 

The purpose of the HMRC consultation is to seek views on the detailed policy design and a framework for implementation of a specific proposal, and will not consider alternative proposals.

 

Discuss your requirements with our specialist tax consultancy and HMRC enquiry service at KKVMS LLP.