Is anyone else having this issue or is it just me?
Example: New client comes to you after having set up a Limited Company online somehow. You become their agent and want to make sure they have registered as trading and submitted the old CT41G information. They think they have but are maybe not sure because the old form has been replaced with an ambiguous kind of letter suggesting they do it online if they haven’t already done so. They often even presume they have registered all relevant information because the letter contains a UTR therefore they must have registered, Right? (Wrong!).
Being the kind of caring adviser that I am, I like to make sure for them, but the only way I can find out every time is by calling the new centralised HMRC number and going through a painful conversation with somebody who doesn’t know what you are asking half the time, in an attempt to find out. In fact I have already been told on one occasion that HMRC had the info when in fact it later transpired they did not!
I have even been told conflicting answers from operators along the lines of:
Answer 1: “If the accounting periods are showing as LIVE on the agent portal then they must have registered their info, otherwise they would be dormant”
Answer 2: “All the new company’s accounting periods show as LIVE as default, so that doesn’t tell you if they have filed CT41G information”
I myself have found answer 2 to coincide with my experiences and I know for a fact that companies can be showing as live on the agent portal even when HMRC do not hold CT41G information. So has anyone else got any comments on this or have any pointers that I might be missing to prevent these time wasting calls for both me and HMRC.
Something that shows whether CT41G information has been filed or not on the portal is surely the answer, but presumably faaaaaaar too complex to add!
Replies (8)
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Phone calls I try to avoid
To be honest I would write to the HMRC and ask them to confirm receipt and remind them a couple of times and moan like hell if there issue a penalty for this.
We should have to but that is how we tackle it hope it helps.
CT41g
Well done. hopefully someone will come up with the proper answer on this one! Glad you have re-opened this. I produced a CT41g with taxcalc and posted it off. No idea if I did the right thing!
Its a bit like the vat applications, totally different.
Keep the industry in the dark, mushroom method?
Default dates
If the client has not supplied the information to register for CT, HMRC could only use the defaults for setting up the live CTAPs - one year from the date of incorporation and a short period to the end of the month. Although some companies may commence trading immediately and many will not change their default accounting date, if the defaults are the live dates set up by HMRC, it would be a fair indication that the client has not registered.
Count yourself lucky that the client knew his UTR so that you could register as the agent. Our usual problem is that the client denies all knowledge of having received the CT41G letter and does not even know what a UTR is, so we can neither register him for CT nor as his agent.
CT41g
Hello Euan
But what is your understanding on supplying the CT41g. It was easy before as there was an actual form. Do you print one out and post? I know revenue refer to online but I tryed it through the agent site and got totally lost!
thanks
Persevere
It can be a bit confusing about the agent/client terminology, so don't read the text too closely. Just log on to your agent Online Services menu and then proceed as if you are the client. It is "Register for HMRC taxes" twice and "Next" 4 times before you get to choose which taxes you want to register the client for. You need to say that you (as the client) do not have a Government Gateway account, so set one up with your choice of password for the client and don't forget to print the page with the User ID. I tend to give my own e-mail address unless the client is particularly clued up. Just keep on going!
I have managed to register a client for VAT, complete the Property questionnaire and file the form to opt to tax, all in one sitting, using the new online system.
New system
Thanks Euan
yes I understand what you mean. I have done a few VAT registrations with the new system. that`s fairly seamless except for the new questions about change of name etc. It sounds as though you use the same system for CT41g, so I will give it a go
If a beautiful woman tells me what to do, I always comply!