Preparing for a Corporation Tax enquiry

If HMRC opens a Corporation Tax enquiry or compliance check, preserve the relevant records and read the correspondence carefully. Identify the company, period, issues and response dates. Verify unexpected contact through official channels and appoint a responsible person or authorised adviser to coordinate the response.

Provide accurate information supported by the original evidence. Keep a questions log and distinguish confirmed facts from matters still under investigation. If an error is identified, discuss the appropriate correction and disclosure route rather than altering records to conceal how the original return was prepared.

Read and verify the correspondence carefully

Identify the company, period, tax and issues HMRC is checking. Record response dates and the nature of any formal notice. Verify unexpected contact through official channels before sharing information or paying money. GOV.UK's compliance-check guidance explains the process and available support. ^[1] A check should be handled promptly and accurately without assuming that every request has the same scope or procedural effect.

Appoint one coordinator and confirm the accountant's or adviser's authority. Keep the original correspondence and a chronology of contacts. Avoid several staff sending separate partial responses that contradict one another. If a deadline cannot be met, seek advice and contact HMRC through the appropriate route in good time rather than assuming silence creates an extension.

Preserve records and organise the evidence

Keep the submitted return, computation, accounts and source documents unchanged. Establish controlled working copies for analysis. Suspend deletion of relevant records under a properly scoped hold and preserve electronic evidence that may otherwise expire. GOV.UK's record guidance notes circumstances requiring longer retention, including a compliance check. ^[2] Do not alter invoices or recreate documents to conceal gaps in the original preparation.

Create a request log identifying each question, evidence location, responsible person and response status. Distinguish records already available from information needing recovery or explanation. A focused index helps the adviser assess completeness without repeatedly reviewing an unstructured archive. Restrict sensitive information and share it through an appropriate secure process.

Answer facts accurately and identify uncertainty

Provide explanations that connect the tax treatment with the underlying transaction and evidence. Where an answer depends on recollection, say so and identify any corroborating records. Do not present an estimate as an exact historic fact or a proposed interpretation as something HMRC has already accepted. Review material responses before submission and retain the version actually sent.

If the review reveals an error, discuss correction, disclosure and potential consequences with the adviser. Use Amending a Company Tax Return for return amendments, while recognising that an open check may affect the appropriate process. Do not make an unsupported compensating entry in another period or quietly replace the internal return file and assume the matter is resolved.

Keep the scope and outcome visible

Review requests for relevance, legal basis and any applicable rights with the adviser where necessary. Cooperation does not require guessing at answers or ignoring genuine confidentiality and privilege questions. Identify those issues specifically rather than withholding broad categories without analysis. Keep correspondence about disputed requests and the agreed next step.

Track proposed adjustments, interest, penalties and any response or appeal deadlines separately. Do not assume accepting one factual correction means agreeing every consequence described in a letter. Ask for a clear explanation of the position and options. Maintain the cash forecast if a potential liability could affect the company's ability to meet obligations.

For Corporation Tax record review, provide the HMRC letters, submitted pack and a concise issue summary. Identify urgent dates and missing records at the outset. Ask for coordinated representation or specialist tax support within an agreed scope. After the check, retain the outcome and update continuing schedules, then address the actual record or control weakness identified so the next return does not repeat the same unsupported treatment.

Control the factual response before sending it

Give one person responsibility for assembling the proposed response and checking it against the supporting documents. Ask contributors to identify what they know directly, what they infer and what they cannot confirm. An internal assumption should not become an unqualified statement merely because it passes through several drafts.

Have the appropriate adviser review material tax explanations and any uncertainty about the request's scope or deadline. Keep the final response, attachments and dispatch evidence together, using a secure method suitable for the information. If a later fact shows an answer was incomplete or wrong, raise it promptly for advice on correction. This preserves a clear correspondence history and avoids inconsistent replies from different team members working from different versions of the records.

Illustrative scenario

HMRC asks about a material expense adjustment. The company gathers the invoice, agreement, ledger entry and tax working paper, then explains the actual business purpose. Where a document is missing, the response acknowledges the gap and the steps taken to reconstruct the facts instead of creating a misleading replacement.

Preparation checklist

• Preserve returns, computations and supporting records.
• Check issues, authority and response deadlines.
• Maintain a controlled evidence and correspondence log.
• Review answers and any identified errors with the adviser.