COM23135 - Assessing: CTSA assessments: companies deducting income tax from certain payments (CT61 return)

Companies have to deduct income tax from certain types of payments they make, pay the tax to HMRC and make returns of these details on form CT61. These returns are normally due to the standard quarter dates but some companies may need to fill in an extra return depending on their accounting period end date.

For more information about tax on annual payments see the Company Taxation Manual at CTM35100 onwards.

Handling CT61 cases with SAFE

Until 1 November 2010, all CT61 records were managed on IT-CP (Income Tax - Company Payments), which was part of the IRIS system.

From 1 November 2010:

  • all live companies showing activity on IT-CP in the previous 18 months were set up on SAFE
  • all new CT61 records are created and maintained on SAFE.

Only a limited number of staff have access to SAFE. If you need to get CT61 records created or updated on SAFE, you must ask your SAFE user to do it for you by sending them the SEES stencil. You can get the stencil at Excel > SEES > Forms and Letters > SAFE > SAFE CT61 case stencil.

If in day to day work you discover that a CT61 case has not been set up automatically, you need to ask your SAFE user to set the case up by completing the SAFE CT61 case stencil.

SAFE uses company details from COTAX

SAFE uses the COTAX UTR as the main reference for a company and automatically takes the company name, Registered Office address and most signals direct from the COTAX record. This limits the amount of maintenance required on CT61 records on SAFE.

SAFE takes the output address from the company address field on COTAX. The company address is either the Registered Office address, which COTAX receives automatically from Companies House, or where a company such as an unincorporated association is not registered under the Companies Act, the main address or principal place of business.

It is not possible to specify a different output address on SAFE and you may need to explain this if you receive a request from a company or agent to issue CT61 returns to a different address to the one shown on COTAX.

Handling returns from the Miscellaneous Charges Unit

The Miscellaneous Charges Unit processes CT61 returns on behalf of HMRC and sends processed CT61 returns in regular batches to the relevant OUID which owns the COTAX record.

SAFE does not issue the covering form CT78(Z) which was previously sent by the Miscellaneous Charges unit with CT61 returns to local offices, so CT61 returns are sent in the next batch after processing, rather than after the end of a company’s accounting period.

The batches are clearly marked to show those CT61 cases which may need additional processing.

The Miscellaneous Charges Unit may need caseworkers to make assessments to enforce return charges that have not been paid. Cases requiring assessment are listed in an Excel spreadsheet in a Controlled Access Folder (CAF) and nominees for each OUID are prompted to work these cases as necessary.