Corporation tax - how about s419 refunds?

Yes, how about them indeed. Like, how do you go about getting one?

Like getting CT refunds from earlier years following a loss carry back, getting s419 back when a loan is repaid seems to be equally difficult.

It's not made any easier by the lack of any clear indication on the return itself that a refund is due now, and HMRC have a 100% record to date of missing the repayment and issuing a CT demand for the full amount of CT due without the s419 credit ... client then thinks we got it wrong and pays the amount demanded to avoid any nastiness ...  we then have to reassure the client that they ARE due a refund, and start chasing HMRC to get the tax back.

Similar to another case I have where the director of a building company keeps on quoting his old sole trader CIS reference instead of the company reference. Quite why HMRC haven't cancelled the old one I don't know - maybe they have, but they just can't bring themselves to turn money away! Anyway, at the end of this year he again has a huge repayment of CIS tax due to the company - except the main contractors have issued tax certificates with the wrong UTR. In theory HMRC say they can arrange an offset against the company's CT liability. In practice it took us nearly a year to sort out the 2007-08 offset, and now the year ended 31 March 2009 CT is becoming seriously overdue and again all parties are disavowing any knowledge of the CIS credit and demanding payment of CT in full.

And DON'T even ask how the Tax Credits arrears cases are going ...