Notice to File Corporation Tax AND now working PAYE outside of Ltd co.

[MEMEME69]

Hi Guys,

I have two questions but having spent an hour on my favourite search engine and 20 minutes on Gov website I am non the wiser.
So I'm hoping someone here can give me the simple answer.

Brief background.
Jul17 formed a Ltd co as I landed a contractor role.
Dec17 fell ill and contract was terminated in JAN18.
No company income since Jan18 - VAT returns done and paid.
Have been drawing minimum salary each month until Jun18. Have also drawn maximum tax-free dividends for 2017 & 2018 (5K & 2K).
Jun18 offered an FTC but only as PAYE basis - I notified HMRC of a 2nd job and swapped around my tax - so FTC main job with tax allowance.

As my current job is with an international company I have been out of the UK for periods of 5-11 days spending at most a week here and there in the UK HQ.

1. I received 2 'notice to deliver a company tax return' letters both dated 19 AUG 2018. (17JUL17-16JUL18 & 17JUL18-31JUL18)
They had not arrived by 28AUG18 which is when I flew out of the UK again - I found them when I returned home on 07SEP2018.

My question is what is the deadline for these returns?
AND I setup email notifications on the Government 'gateway' website but didn't receive anything regarding this - can I use this and working out of the country when they arrived (and that they also took over a week to arrive) as a reasonable excuse for extension?

2. As I was initially working through my Ltd outside IR35 now that I have taken on a FTC going through PAYE - does this have any impact/needs to be taken into consideration when producing accounts/returns for my Ltd co?
The Ltd co has no income just nominal monthly outgoings <£10 (mobile contract & bank fee).
I am doing zero monthly returns through BPT.

Thanks,

Mark

[malvolio]

Where your personal money comes from is immaterial. Your company is a separate entity with its own liabilities, one of which is paying CT within nine months of its year end - July 2018 in your case so by next April The form is a reminder and all the details are on the companies house website.

[MEMEME69]

Where your personal money comes from is immaterial. Your company is a separate entity with its own liabilities, one of which is paying CT within nine months of its year end - July 2018 in your case so by next April The form is a reminder and all the details are on the companies house website.

Thanks for your reply.

Ah the 9 month payment/filing reminder - awfully nice of the HMRC to send out a reminder so early.
I knew the payment was due 9 months after the end of the accounting period but the wording "Notice to Deliver" is a bit Dick Turpin and IMMEDIATE
The Gov.uk website mentioned a 'due date' on the notice but there is nothing on mine which is what raised my blood pressure

Thanks for your help and I can now return harmoniously to working more free overtime prior to the excitement of another week abroad....

[Lance]

do you have an accountant?
They'll handle this for you.
If you don't then you should get one.

You mention the notice to file annual returns. You should be doing two, hence the two notices. One for the period from company start will the end of that month, and another from that months end to end of the same month the next year.
But you also have a filing to do of the company shareholders and directors. You should have done this already (it's due annually on the date of company formation or thereabouts).

If you're not planning on doing any more LTD company contracting then you should really close it down as otherwise it's going to cost you to keep it running for no benefit.

[MEMEME69]

do you have an accountant?
They'll handle this for you.
If you don't then you should get one.

You mention the notice to file annual returns. You should be doing two, hence the two notices. One for the period from company start will the end of that month, and another from that months end to end of the same month the next year.
But you also have a filing to do of the company shareholders and directors. You should have done this already (it's due annually on the date of company formation or thereabouts).

If you're not planning on doing any more LTD company contracting then you should really close it down as otherwise it's going to cost you to keep it running for no benefit.

Thanks for your reply.

I had an accounting service which; setup my registered office/correspondence address incorrectly so I had to scan and email them official letters, registered me incorrectly on their system and chased me for non-payment of fees, didn't chase VAT issued invoices, shut down my online bookkeeping portal 2 weeks before the end of my paid-up period and insisted I had signed up to a 'premium' service.
The only premium was the price so I got rid of them and am doing my monthly submissions and VAT returns myself. Accounts next.

Yes I understand the requirement for 2 annual returns to align with the accounting year end.
What had me worried was the wording of the notice and lack of due date.
I knew the tax payment is due 9 months after the end of the first year but from searches I did it suggested the notice should have a due date on it.
So for the HMRC to give so much notice is very welcome

Yes I have filed my confirmation statement

I'm thinking of going back to contracting after my FTC so will keep the LTD open for a while and reevaluate then.

[MrButton]

Sounds like you had a bad experience with your accountant.

However your course of action shouldn’t be to not have one at all.

Take a look at the pinned accountant recommendation thread and hire one of the good ones.

[Hobosapien]

The 'notice to deliver a company tax return' does have a due date in the form of the 'filing date'. Details are usually on the back, presuming we all get the same standard letter.

Note that the filing date for the return is usually 12 months after company year end but the corporation tax is due 9 months after the company year end, same as when the annual accounts needs to be filed with Companies House.

I'm sure there's a good reason why the HMRC return is 3 months after they want the associated payment but it seems the wrong way around to me. I just get my accountant to do the lot in time for the earlier 9 month deadline.

[MEMEME69]

The 'notice to deliver a company tax return' does have a due date in the form of the 'filing date'. Details are usually on the back, presuming we all get the same standard letter.

Note that the filing date for the return is usually 12 months after company year end but the corporation tax is due 9 months after the company year end, same as when the annual accounts needs to be filed with Companies House.

I'm sure there's a good reason why the HMRC return is 3 months after they want the associated payment but it seems the wrong way around to me. I just get my accountant to do the lot in time for the earlier 9 month deadline.

Thanks for your reply.

There is no 'due date' as in an actual date (i.e. DD/MM/YYYY) on the back of the letter.
There is however a lot of legal gumf and 'definitions'.

It says "Your return should reach me not later than the filling date* set by law and must include...."

then

*'Filing date'
This is usually the later of:

• the first anniversary of the last day of the period to which the return relates
• the end of 3 months following the date on which this notice was served

It would be a whole lot simpler just to put an actual date - my company was formed 7 July 2017 so why not just put;
Filing date - the later of:

• 31 JULY 2019
• (date of issue: 19 AUG 2018) 30 NOVEMBER 2018

Perhaps it's meant to confuse so the next item of HMRC correspondence will be titled 'Late filing Penalty Notice'....

[Lance]

It says "Your return should reach me not later than the filling date* set by law and must include...."

using 'me' sounds far too personal for HMRC. Are you sure this is from them or have you just typed it in wrong?

[Hobosapien]

using 'me' sounds far too personal for HMRC. Are you sure this is from them or have you just typed it in wrong?

'Me' is 'HM Inspector of taxes'.

I presume there's more than one unless it's what Her Majesty does to keep busy while Phil is having an afternoon nap.