HMRC updates on new corporation tax requirements

Date: 21st August 2009

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has highlighted upcoming changes to corporation tax, to come into effect over the next financial year.

Under the new rules, all tax returns from businesses delivered at the end of the year (March 2011) must be made online rather than on paper.

Moreover, the data format iXBRL must be used for these returns.

Commonly, smaller businesses will put their corporation tax together in the usual way and then use software to convert the document into the correct format.

These programmes can be either bought commercially or from HMRC itself - although this latter option has not yet been released and will be available towards the end of 2009.

Mark Holden at the taxation authority said: "While March 2011 might seem a long way away, agents and businesses need to be thinking about these changes now, as they will affect accounting periods ending after 31 March next year."

He added: "We're also working closely with software developers, and a number of commercial products will be available to support the iXBRL standard from November 2009, with more to follow. This will mean the majority of companies who wish to familiarise themselves with filing online before it becomes compulsory will have the opportunity to do so."

HMRC has mapped out all these changes in a new mailshot, to be delivered to around 500,000 British businesses by the end of the month.