CTM90635 - Corporation tax self-assessment (CTSA): Claims and elections: Amended return, outside return

FA98/SCH18/PARA59 says that you must deal with any claim or election that paragraphs 57 or 58 do not cover under TMA70/SCH1A.

The CTSA enquiry provisions in FA98/SCH18 relating to company tax returns and amended returns do not apply to claims that are:

  • not included in a return, and
  • not made at a time when the return is open to amendment.

TMA70/SCH1A provides a broadly similar set of enquiry provisions to deal with the making and checking of claims that are not made in returns or amended returns.

These provisions are not identical. The enquiry “window” for claims differs from that for returns. TMA70/SCH1A/PARA5 states that an enquiry into a claim can be made by the latest of the following dates:

  • the quarter date next following the first anniversary of the day on which the claim or amendment was made;
  • where the claim or amendment relates to a year of assessment, the first anniversary of the 31 January next following that year; and
  • Where the claim or amendment relates to a period other than a year of assessment, the first anniversary of the end of that period

The enquiry window for company tax returns is described in the guidance at EM1510 (link is external).

The completion of an enquiry under TMA70/SCH1A into a company claim has similarities with the procedures for enquiries into returns. The “closure notice” should state your conclusions and make the necessary amendments. The taxpayer’s right to amend on closure does not apply to enquiries into such claims.

When a claim is made outside a return it must:

  • be made to an officer of HMRC,
  • be made in the form prescribed, if there is one,
  • contain sufficient information to enable its validity and accuracy to be verified.

You can correct obvious errors or mistakes in a claim within nine months of the claim being made.

The company can amend the claim within twelve months of making it provided that the claim is not under enquiry.

Unless the claim is under enquiry, you should give effect to it when practicable by discharge or repayment of tax, (TMA70/SCH1A/PARA4).

When the claim requires a repayment of tax, the company must retain proof that it has paid the tax, either directly or by deduction from income received. (In practice, HMRC do not normally require companies to produce such proof, except in relation to deductions suffered under the Construction Industry Scheme, see CTM92170.

TMA70/SCH1A/PARA2A, 5, & 6 mirrors the CTSA:

  • record keeping requirement,
  • enquiry power, and
  • information power,

detailed in FA98/SCH18.

See the Enquiry Manual for detailed guidance.