HMRC has published guidance for taxpayers and Agents who want to submit company accounts online to HMRC as part of a Company Tax Return, and also to send these or an abbreviated version to Companies House.

The guide explains who can use this software, provides important information that needs to be considered before using it, and guidance on where to find it on the HMRC website.

HMRC and Companies House provide a joint filing service that enables company accounts to be submitted online to both organisations, using the data entered on the accounts template provided in the online filing software. The service can be used to submit full statutory accounts to HMRC and full statutory, abbreviated or dormant accounts to Companies House.

The guidance usually refers to a ‘company’ when explaining how the HMRC online filing software works but applies equally to other organisations that choose to use this software.

If an Agent or Taxpayer has chosen to use commercially available software to submit Company Tax Returns, it will be necessary to speak to the relevant software supplier first about how to use it and about any problems that arise.

Before a Company Tax Return can be submitted online, it is necessary to enroll for and activate the Corporation Tax online service.

Further information is available at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ct/online-return.pdf