Do I Need to Inform Hmrc That I Have Formed a New Limited Company?

Last Updated: Mar 16, 2021

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Company FormationHMRC

Companies House will definitely inform HMRC whenever any new business is incorporated. Thus, it is not necessary you contact them regarding the existence of your new Ltd company. Directly after your company is established, HMRC will forward a letter to your registered office address. The content of the letter will be the Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) of your company as well as form CT41G (Corporation Tax – Information for New Companies).

The Unique Taxpayer Reference is essential, and will be needed each time you get in touch with HMRC. Form CT41G possesses all information needed for your company to become active, when and how to enrol for business taxes, as well as the official information you need to provide for HMRC.

In case you aren’t prepared to begin trading instantly, you have to get in touch with your local corporation tax office to notify HMRC of your company’s dormancy.

Ways to register with HMRC for corporation tax reasons

Should your company be trading, it will be officially responsible for business tax on all incomes that are taxable. A company is regarded as trading for corporation tax reasons when:

• Goods and services are purchased and sold with the aim of making profit or excess.
• It proceeds with any professional business or trading activity.
• Interest is received
• Income/revenue is received.
• Workers are employed.

A company that performs all these will have to enrol with HMRC for business tax purposes, either in writing or online, within 3 months of commencing any business activity. Should you register online, your company will automatically be incorporated for corporation tax online. In the course of the registration process, you will be asked to provide your company registration number (CRN) and your UTR.

You will be required to set up a Government Gateway account at this time. This is necessary for registering your business for all types of taxes, signing up for any other HMRC online services and paying your company taxes online.

Once you have set up your Government Gateway account, simply follow the online instructions and provide HMRC with the following statutory information:

• The date your company started trading
• The nature of your company’s business activities.
• The name of your company and its registration number
• The address of your company’s major business place (not registered office address, except if this is where your key business activities are performed)
• The date you plan to set up your company’s legal accounts. This shall be the initial accounting reference date (ARD) given to you by Companies House.

HMRC will utilise this information to prepare your corporation tax accounting duration. You will receive an Activation Code (or PIN) at your registered office address within seven (7) days of your registration being confirmed by HMRC. In addition, you must activate your online services immediately once you get the code.

Filing company tax returns and paying corporation tax

Trading companies are expected to pay corporation tax within 9 months and 1 day of the yearly accounting period. Normally, an accounting period is a year’s long and will go in line with your company’s 12-month financial year. Company Tax Returns need to be filed on the internet within 12 months of the yearly company’s accounting period.

Notify HMRC of your company’s dormant status

Should your company be dormant, it will not be accountable for corporation tax; consequently, there will not be any need to register with HMRC for corporation tax or file a tax return in as much your company remains inactive.

Alternatively, you will have to get in touch with your local corporation tax office through writing to inform HMRC of your company’s dormancy. Should your company be trading before, you will be asked to submit a Company Tax Return and pay corporation tax for the duration of business activity.  Should your company have never been active, you must indicate the date of incorporation as the date your company became inactive. Within about 15 days, you will receive notification from the tax office to validate your company’s dormant status. In addition, you need not contact HMRC again until your company becomes active.

Article by

Jody Smith

A content and media expert, I have worked for 7 years alongside start-ups and small businesses to effectively promote their brands through blogs, social media and content marketing strategies.