Corporation tax

---

Growing scrutiny by tax authorities means businesses now face ever-increasing tax compliance and reporting obligations.

Dealing with complex fiscal rules, changing legislation and harsher penalty regimes can place a considerable burden on you, your management team and your business. How you manage your tax affairs can also potentially impact on your public profile.

We understand the importance of meeting compliance deadlines and of reducing effective tax rates by taking advantage of all available statutory reliefs. Having a trusted partner to manage your tax compliance requirements and negotiate and resolve any issues with HMRC enables you to focus your time and effort on running your business.

We can assist you with your UK corporation tax compliance obligations, including:

• Preparing corporation tax returns.
• Preparing and reviewing tax provisions and notes for inclusion in individual company and consolidated group statutory accounts.
• Monitoring and advising on tax liabilities and due dates for corporation tax, including calculation of quarterly instalment payments.
• IXBRL tagging of accounts and tax returns in preparation for online filing
• Providing guidance and advice on complex tax rules and legislation
• Negotiating with HMRC on your behalf to resolve any enquiries and/or disputes.

Businesses undertaking creative or innovative work in science and technology may be eligible for R&D tax credits and reliefs. 

Even if you’re already making R&D claims, it is worth reviewing whether you’re getting the correct relief, as you could either be missing out on certain areas, or potentially overclaiming, in which case it is always best to disclose this to HMRC as soon as you are aware of it.. 

An effective way to reduce the overall cost of purchasing plant and machinery, the Annual Investment Allowance has been set at such a level (£1m until December 2020) that most businesses will be able to write-off much of their annual cost of acquiring plant and machinery as a tax deduction in the year of acquisition. 

For certain asset purchases from 1 April 2021, businesses are able to write-off 130% of the cost in the year of acquisition, with no upper limit, thus giving an effective tax saving of 24.7%. This will cease on 1 April 2023 when the corporation tax rate will increase to 25%. 

Companies acquiring property will need to consider their ability to claim capital allowances on fixtures and fittings.

When undertaking any significant business transactions - from the acquisition of shares to the transfer of trade, assets or liabilities as part of a restructuring programme - companies need to ensure that all potential tax liabilities and planning opportunities are fully considered. Without proper advice in advance, you could face corporation tax, income tax, capital gains tax, stamp duty land tax or VAT implications. 

Businesses can minimise this exposure by carrying out due diligence to manage risk and ensure the transaction is structured in an efficient way.

We can help by:

• Providing commercial, pragmatic solutions on the tax implications of the proposed structure of a transaction.
• Preparing tax due diligence reports highlighting the potential tax risks and liabilities.
• Identifying opportunities to maximise tax relief on deal costs. This is particularly important for VAT.
• Providing ongoing tax support throughout the transaction process, including advice on tax aspects of the sale and purchase documentation.

The EIS, SEIS and VCT investment schemes are designed to help smaller, higher-risk trading companies raise finance by offering a range of tax reliefs to investors who purchase new shares in those companies. 

The reliefs can provide the investor with a significant income tax saving of up to 50% of the investment made, and also provide the opportunity to defer capital gains. 

Putting the right structure in place so that investors can maximise the tax relief available through these schemes can be a key factor in attracting investment. 

We can assist by:

• Working with you and your investors to plan and structure EIS/VCT schemes, including advice on the structure of groups and identifying areas of risk.
• Obtaining advance assurance from HMRC to confirm that the qualifying conditions are met
• Preparing relevant forms and reviewing conditions on an ongoing basis.

Patent box

For any company holding patents that it has developed, it is possible that any profits derived from their use will be taxed at just 10%, rather than the usual 19%.

Please see further details in our information sheet below.

Video Games Tax Relief 

For any company developing video games, a tax saving, or cash credit equal to 20% of the development costs will be available for any game that meets the 'cultural test'. 

Please see further details in our information sheet below.

Land remediation relief

Land remediation relief is often missed by businesses who are spending money on the remediation of land or buildings (e.g. asbestos removal). 

With the increasing amount of development on brownfield sites, this can be a significant cost, but many of these activities would qualify for this relief and lead to cash savings. It is not just construction companies though – if your business purchases a new property and remediation work is required this relief can assist with the costs.

Please see further details in our information sheet below.