COMPANY FIRST ACCOUNTS AND TAX RETURNS

Your limited company’s first accounts and Company Tax Return

1. Overview
2. Client’s started trading the day their company set up
3. Client’s started trading after their company set up
Outline / Overview
At the point when setting up limited company, naturally get diverse detailing dates for the first:
yearly records which are send to Companies House
Company Tax Return send to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
Client’s find it hectic and difficult to send (‘file’) 2 tax returns to cover their first year in business.
Yearly records / Annual accounts
First accounts generally cover over a year :
Start on the day their company was set up (‘incorporated’).
End on the bookkeeping reference date that Companies House sets for the end of your company’s financial year – this is the last day of the month their company was set up.

Example

Assuming that your company was set up on 11 May, its bookkeeping reference date will be 31 May the next year. So, your company’s first accounts should cover a year and 3 weeks.
In following years, your accounts will ordinarily cover your company’s financial year from 1 June to 31 May.

Company Tax Return

The time frame covered by your tax return (your bookkeeping period for Corporation Tax) can’t be longer than a year. So, you might need to file 2 tax returns to cover the time of your first accounts. In case you do, you’ll additionally have 2 instalments cut-off times.
In following years, you then normally only file one tax return – and it will typically cover same financial year as your accounts.

What Client’s should do / What Client’s must do

The dates of client’s first tax return – and regardless of whether they file 2 or one – rely upon whether their company:
Start trading around the same day it was set up.
Didn’t start trading until after it was set up.
Next

Client started trading the day their company was set up :

Accounts and tax returns for private limited companies.
Running a limited company.
Appoint CAPS-IT to deal with HMRC on client’s behalf.