CT1 filing date for new company?

ang1170

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I started a company in Oct. 2006. I have yet to make a CT1 return.

The Revenue are complaining I'm not tax compliant becuase I didn't make a return for y/e 2006.

My accountant is saying I have until Sept of this year to make a return for both 06 and 07.

Who's correct?

Note: as you might imagine there's quite a few details behind this, but I've tried to summarise as best I can.
 
Your accountant could be referring to the form 11 which you, as a director are obliged to file each year.

The CT1 is for the profit your company makes. If you commenced trading when the company was set up, and did your first year up to, say 31st August 2007, then you have 8 months and 21 days to file the CT1. it is then due by 21st May 2008.

Perhaps you could post some more info as to the commencement of trading and the year end, and you may get more definate replies.
 
Perhaps you could post some more info as to the commencement of trading and the year end, and you may get more definate replies.

Commenced trading in Oct 06, and plan to have a y/e on 31st Dec. I've assumed that the 1st year accounts will therefore be for 14 months. Is this OK? does this mean I'm not overdue for a CT1?
 
You may have to make a return for the period from October to December 2006. Get your accountant to check with revenue. Generally revenue will not accept a return for a period longer than 12 months, which is why your first 14 months trading may need 2 returns.
 
Thanks. Sounds like the accountant is wrong.

The reason it's an issue is that they won't return a VAT payment made in error until I'm compliant (i.e. have made the return, which I never knew I had to make in the first place). It's not as if anything is or will be owed. Looks like I'll have to hound my accountant to get everything squared off.
 

Your accountant is NOT wrong. You are well within your rights to prepare accounts for a 12, 14 or 15 month period after commencement of trading if this is what suits you. If you prepare accounts for a period longer than 12 months, yes you must complete 2 Form CT1s as no CT1 can be for a period longer than 12 months - however this is a simple exercise of apportioning profits/allowances on a time basis and does NOT require 2 separate sets of accounts.

There is nothing to say that you must prepare accounts and a Form CT1 for the first 3 months of trading. In fact the idea of a 3-months accounts period is a nonsense in the context of a new business, and had your accountant suggested that particular course of action I would have suspected him of trying to rip you off by artificially making work for himself.

If you select 30 September 2007 as your year end date (ie 12 months after commencement), you have nine months after that to file it, ie June 2008.

You or your accountant should contest vigorously the Revenue's refusal to give you a tax clearance cert, and explain clearly to them that your tax compliance record should not be affected by your selection of a year-end date sometime in 2007. Bring your grievance to someone at Inspector level in Revenue if the juniors won't listen to you.

ps Did you not specify your preferred accounts year end date when registering for tax on Form TR2; Part A Panel 9 "To what date will annual accounts be made up?"
 
Your accountant is NOT wrong. You are well within your rights to prepare accounts for a 12, 14 or 15 month period after commencement of trading if this is what suits you.

Of course the OP is entitled to prepare accounts for any period, but if the revenue have on their records that, say, a company was set up in October 2006 and that there is a CT1 due for the period Oct to Dec 2006, which is now overdue, any VAT refund will be held up until something is done. It would have taken the OP's accountant about 1 minute to check on ROS if the revenue records showed any outstanding returns.
 
Thanks for these last two posts. I've just checked ROS myself, and sure enough there's one shown as overdue (two in total, for Dec 06 and Dec 07). Nice the way they send you a reminder for this (not!) - I was completely oblivious to the fact anything was overdue until this came about.

Do you think I can I correct this by informing them of the actual accounting period? I should add my accountant is away at the moment, so I'm kind of stuck for advice.