DST54000 - Notifying HMRC of Changes

The group is obliged to notify HMRC of any changes to the details registered for DST within 90 days of the change. This includes the contact details or identity of the responsible member, as well as a change to the next accounting period end date.

Change in the responsible member

There are three circumstances when the responsible member in the group will change from one entity to another:

• The ultimate parent nominates a different company in the group
• An officer in HMRC revokes the nomination
• The responsible member leaves the group or is disincorporated

If an ultimate parent decides to nominate another responsible member, the 90 days runs from the date the new responsible member is nominated (i.e. the date of the nomination statement). This means HMRC will not be aware the responsible member has changed until the change is notified to them (up to 90 days later). Section 53 consequently specifies any act done by HMRC to the old responsible member is treated as having been done to the new responsible member.

If HMRC revokes the nomination, the responsible member will revert to the ultimate parent of the group from the date that HMRC issues the revocation.

If the responsible member leaves the group or is no longer a company, they will no longer meet the conditions required to be a responsible member. The responsible member will automatically revert to the ultimate parent from the date the previous responsible member no longer met the conditions (e.g. the date they left the group). The group has 90 days to notify the change to HMRC. Again, Section 53 ensures that any action taken by HMRC towards the old responsible member (for example, sending a notice of enquiry, issuing an assessment or a closure notice) is treated as having been done to the new responsible member. This ensures these actions are not invalidated by not being served on the correct responsible member.

Section 53 also ensures obligations carried out by the old responsible member are treated as having been fulfilled by the new responsible member. So, for example, the new responsible member will be treated as having submitted a DST return if the return was already submitted by the previous responsible member.

Changes to the group over time

The liability of each company is determined by reference to the period it is a member of the DST group. It is possible for a company to join or leave a group in a period it has received DST revenues. HMRC does not need to be notified when a company that may be liable to, or has a liability to, DST joins or leaves a group. A company may not be a member of the group at the start or end of an accounting period, or when the liability is determined, either through a self-assessment or subsequent compliance check activity. What matters is whether the company received revenue which is included in the group’s consolidated accounts for the period it was a member of the group.

However, as a company may join or leave a group there may be a question as to whether there is the same group in two different periods. The answer is simply, if a parent entity was the parent entity of the group at the first moment, and has always been a parent entity (that is, it has at no time become a subsidiary entity) in the intervening time, and is still a parent entity then the group at the two times will be the same group.