INTM489902 - Diverted Profits Tax: notification, charging and payment: when a preliminary notice must be issued

If there is reason to believe that a DPT charge arises for an accounting period, a designated HMRC officer must first issue a preliminary notice to the company for that period before DPT can be brought into charge.

If the company notified its potential liability to DPT within the appropriate time limit, the preliminary notice may not be issued more than 24 months after the end of the accounting period in a s86 case.

In a s80 or s81 case if the company notified its potential liability to DPT within the appropriate time limit, the preliminary notice may not be issued more than 6 months after the last date on which the company can amend its corporation tax return for the accounting period.

However, where HMRC has not received a notification within the appropriate time limit that a company is potentially within the scope of DPT, the period within which HMRC may issue a preliminary notice is extended and where a designated HMRC officer believes that an amount of DPT ought to have been charged, a preliminary notice may be issued to the company within four years of the end of the accounting period to which the charge relates. This might include, for example, a situation where a notice for the same accounting period of the company had previously been issued in respect of a different material provision.