Category: Corporation Tax

There are two rates of Corporation Tax effective from 1 April 2023. Taxable profits up £50,000 continue to be taxed at the 19% Small Business Profits Rate. Taxable profits in excess of £250,000 will be taxed at 25%, the main rate. Taxable profits between £50,000 and £250,000 will pay a rate that gradually increases from 19% to 25% by claiming marginal relief.

These thresholds (£50,000 and £250,000) will be reduced for the number of associated companies and for short accounting periods.

A company is an ‘associated company’ of another company if one of the two has control of the other, or both are under the control of the same person or persons. 

The £250,000 limit will be divided by the total number of associated companies. For example, if two companies are deemed to be associated, both companies would pay the main CT rate of 25%, from 1 April 2023 at half the usual threshold, namely at £125,000 rather than £250,000. 

HMRC’s manuals make it clear that a company may be an associated company no matter where it is resident for tax purposes.

As part of the Spring Budget measures, the Chancellor announced that the government will extend the temporary higher rates for Theatre Tax Relief (TTR), Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) and Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax Relief (MGETR) for two further years from 1 April 2023.

These reliefs are part of a collection of creative industry tax reliefs (CITR) that allow qualifying companies to claim a larger deduction, or in some circumstances claim a payable tax credit when calculating their taxable profits.

The sunset clause for the MGETR was supposed to come into force on 31 March 2024. It was also confirmed that the relief will be extended for another two years to 31 March 2026.

The headline rates of relief for the TTR and the MGETR will remain at 45% (for non-touring productions) and 50% (for touring productions). OTR rates will remain at 50%. From 1 April 2025, the rates will be 30% and 35%, and on 1 April 2026 the headline rates of relief for TTR and MGETR will return to 20% and 25%. The headline rates of relief for OTR will return to 25%.

There will also be reforms to the film, TV and video games tax reliefs which will become expenditure credits instead of additional deductions from 1 April 2024. 

Barring any unforeseen changes being announced at next week’s Budget, the Corporation Tax main rate will increase to 25% from 1 April 2023 for companies with profits over £250,000. A Small Profits Rate (SPR) of 19% will also be introduced from the same date for companies with profits of up to £50,000, ensuring these companies pay Corporation Tax at the same rate as currently.

Where a company has profits between £50,000 and £250,000 a rate of Corporation Tax will apply that bridges the gap between the lower and upper limits. The lower and upper limits will be proportionately reduced for short accounting periods of less than 12-months and where there are associated companies.

The effect of marginal relief is that the effective rate of Corporation Tax gradually increases from 19% where profits exceed £50,000 to 25% where profits are more than £250,000.

The amount of Corporation Tax to pay will be found by multiplying profits by the main rate of 25% and deducting marginal relief. For the fiscal year 2023, the marginal relief fraction will be 3/200.

The Corporation Tax main rate will increase to 25% from 1 April 2023 for companies with profits over £250,000. A Small Profits Rate (SPR) of 19% will also be introduced from the same date for companies with profits of up to £50,000 – ensuring these companies pay Corporation Tax at the same rate as currently.

Where a company has profits between £50,000 and £250,000 a marginal rate of Corporation Tax will apply that bridges the gap between the lower and upper rates. The lower and upper limits will be proportionately reduced for short accounting periods of less than 12 months and where there are associated companies.

The effect of marginal relief is that the effective rate of Corporation Tax gradually increases from 19% where profits exceed £50,000 to 25% where profits are more than £250,000.

The amount of Corporation Tax payable will be found by multiplying taxable profits and gains by the main rate of 25% and deducting marginal relief. For the fiscal year 2023, the marginal relief fraction will be 3/200. HMRC also offers an online calculator that can be used to check basic eligibility for marginal relief. The calculator can be found at www.tax.service.gov.uk/marginal-relief-calculator.

For certain businesses it may be prudent to reconsider associated company relationships before April 2023. This will help avoid partial loss of the lower 19% rate or marginal tapering relief.

There are currently two schemes for claiming R&D tax relief – the Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Scheme and the R&D Expenditure Credit (RDEC) Scheme for large companies. The amount of R&D tax relief available depends on the total qualifying spend on R&D activities.

It was announced as part of the Autumn Statement 2022 measures that the Research and RDEC rate will increase to 20% (from 13%) with effect from 1 April 2023. From the same date, the SME additional deduction will decrease from 130% to 86%, and the SME credit rate will decrease from 14.5% to 10%. These changes will see the two schemes broadly aligned.

A new consultation has been launched to examine simplifying how R&D relief works. The 8-week consultation, which runs from 13 January 2023 to 13 March 2023, sets out proposals on how a single scheme could be designed and implemented. The new scheme would be designed to simplify the R&D system and provide more information about how much relief businesses will be able to claim from the outset. If implemented, the new scheme is expected to be in place from 1 April 2024.

The planned increases in Corporation Tax (CT) rates from April 2023 are now proceeding as originally announced.

The Corporation Tax main rate will increase to 25% from 1 April 2023 for companies with profits over £250,000. A Small Profits Rate (SPR) of 19% will also be introduced from the same date for companies with profits of up to £50,000 ensuring these companies pay Corporation Tax at the same rate as currently.

Where a company has profits between £50,000 and £250,000 a marginal rate of Corporation Tax will apply that bridges the gap between the lower and upper limits. The lower and upper limits will be proportionately reduced for short accounting periods of less than 12 months and where there are associated companies.

The effect of marginal relief is that the effective rate of Corporation Tax gradually increases from 19% where profits exceed £50,000 to 25% where profits are more than £250,000.

The amount of Corporation Tax to pay will be found by multiplying your profits by the main rate of 25% and deducting marginal relief. For the fiscal year 2023, the marginal relief fraction will be 3/200.

For some businesses, it may be prudent to reconsider associated company relationships before April 2023 to avoid partial loss of the lower 19% rate or marginal tapering relief.

The Corporation Tax main rate will increase to 25% from 1 April 2023 for companies with profits over £250,000. A Small Profits Rate (SPR) of 19% will also be introduced from the same date for companies with profits of up to £50,000 ensuring these companies pay Corporation Tax at the same rate as currently.

Where a company has profits between £50,000 and £250,000 a marginal rate of Corporation Tax will apply that bridges the gap between the lower and upper limits. The lower and upper limits will be proportionately reduced for short accounting periods of less than 12 months and where there are associated companies.

The effect of marginal relief is that the effective rate of Corporation Tax gradually increases from 19% where profits exceed £50,000 to 25% where profits are more than £250,000.

The amount of Corporation Tax to pay will be found by multiplying your profits by the main rate of 25% and deducting marginal relief. For the fiscal year 2023, the marginal relief fraction will be 3/200.

For some businesses, it may be prudent to reconsider associated company relationships before April 2023 to avoid partial loss of the lower 19% rate or marginal taper relief.

Corporation Tax relief may be available where a company or organisation makes a trading loss. The loss may be used to claim relief from Corporation Tax by offsetting the loss against other gains or profits of the business in the same accounting period.

It is also possible to carry a trading loss back in order to claim relief from Corporation Tax by offsetting the loss against profits in previous years. Carrying back a trading loss allows companies to seek relief for the losses by carrying them back to an earlier profit-making period resulting in a reclaim of Corporation Tax.

Usually, such a claim can only be made once a Corporation Tax return has been prepared and submitted to HMRC. Losses may only be carried back against profits of a preceding accounting period if the company was carrying on the trade (in which the loss was incurred) at some time in that accounting period.

Any claim for trading losses forms part of the Company Tax Return. The trading profit or loss for Corporation Tax purposes is worked out by making the usual tax adjustments to the figure of profit or loss shown in the company’s or organisation’s financial accounts.

It is also possible for certain losses that a company has not used in the same accounting period or carried back to be offset against profits in future accounting periods.

The Residential Property Developer Tax (RPDT) is a new tax on large residential property developers that came into effect on 1 April 2022. The new tax was first announced in February 2021 as part of a package of measures to contribute towards the Government’s cost of dealing with defective cladding in the UK’s high-rise housing stock discovered following the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy in June 2017.

This is a profits-based tax levied on the largest residential property developers. The tax is payable by developers with annual profits over £25 million. For companies within the scope of the tax, RPDT is charged at 4% on residential property development profits that exceed their annual allowance of £25 million.

The RPDT applies to profits arising from residential property development in accounting periods ending on or after 1 April 2022, with profits from periods straddling that date being apportioned. The tax applies to all qualifying businesses not just those who were directly involved with defective cladding matters.

HMRC’s internal manuals list the following four key concepts that need to be considered when determining whether a company is an RP developer with the effect that the activities of the company (or other members of its group) fall within the scope of RPDT:

• Is the company liable to UK Corporation Tax?
• Is it conducting activities of, or in connection with, the development of residential property in the UK as part of, or in support of, a trade continued by the company or a member of its group?
• Does the company, or a member of its group, have an interest in the land that is being developed, either directly or through holding a substantial interest in a relevant joint venture company, which will later be disposed of in the course of that trade, other than an excluded interest?
• Does the development activity relate to residential property, in whole or in part, other than properties which are specifically excluded?

There is still time to claim the super-deduction allowance that offers 130% first-year tax relief. The deduction is available to companies until March 2023. The super-deduction is designed to help incorporated businesses finance expansion in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and to help drive growth.

The super-deduction tax break was introduced on 1 April 2021 and allows businesses to deduct 130% of the cost of any qualifying investment on most new plant and equipment investments that would ordinarily qualify for 18% main rate writing down allowances. This means that for every £1 businesses invest they can reduce their tax bill by up to 25p. 

In addition, an enhanced first year allowance of 50% on qualifying special rate assets also applies expenditure within the same period. This includes most new plant and machinery investments that would ordinarily qualify for 6% special rate writing down allowances. 

Only companies can claim the the super-deduction. This means that self-employed traders are unable to benefit. However, they could benefit from the temporary increase in the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) cap to £1 million. The AIA allows for a 100% tax deduction on qualifying expenditure on plant and machinery. The temporary limit of £1 million will also remain in place until 31 March 2023 before reverting to the usual £200,000 limit.