In a note to agents, HMRC says it has revised its web page to make it clearer when a group should appoint a reporting company and submit an interest restriction return (IRR). If a company has a period of account ending on 31 March 2018, it may need to appoint a reporting company by 30 September 2018.  

HMRC points out that the deadline for appointing a reporting company under the CIR rules is currently six months, but there are plans under draft legislation for this to be extended, although any change will not take effect before the date of Royal Assent of the next finance bill.

A reporting company has to be appointed before an IRR is submitted.‎ IRRs that are submitted without a reporting company in place are invalid and will need to be re-submitted once a reporting company has been appointed.‎

In its note, HMRC says that if a company has missed the deadline for appointing a reporting company, then it needs to either contact its customer compliance manager or email the CIR team setting out why it wants HMRC to appoint a reporting company on its behalf.

HMRC is in the process of including guidance on the CIR in its corporate finance manual but this process is not yet complete.  Any technical queries that are not covered by the guidance should be emailed to the CIR team: [email protected].

Guidance Restriction on Corporation Tax relief for interest deductions is here.

Report by Pat Sweet