COM22010 - Assessing: assessing work lists: determination required no return list (DRNR)
Source: gov.uk (2025-08-14)


This subject is presented as follows.

Purpose of the list (#purpose)How often should the list be reviewed? (#often)Who does what? (#who)When are new entries added? (#when)Reasons for entry (#reasons)Sorting and filtering - Options and recommendations (#sorting)The normal next action function (#normal)Automatic deletion (#automatic)Manual deletion (#manual)

Purpose of the list

There are two versions of the Determination Required No Return List:
- function DRNR is the update version
- function DRNV is the view only version
The purpose of the work list is to show you all cases where the Accounting Period (AP) ended at least 18 months ago, and the company has not delivered a return for that period.

You should consider whether you need to make a revenue determination for these cases. If you decide that a revenue determination is not required, you must set both the ‘NAR’ (No Assessment Required) and ‘NPR’ (No Penalty Required) signals to ensure that the case does not appear on the work list again.

If the case is RLS and you consider that a revenue determination is appropriate, you can prepare the determination. COTAX stores it and issues it when a new address is put on the record.

When you have issued a revenue determination, COTAX normally issues any relevant penalty determinations automatically 14 days later. See COM101020 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com101020) for more information.

How often should the list be reviewed?

Local management should ensure that the work list is reviewed on a monthly basis.

Who does what?

A CT Co-ordinator normally reviews and controls the list, identifying new cases and existing cases where the BF has expired. They normally carry out the initial actions to identify if a determination is required. Where a determination is required, they follow local practice to:
- decide the amount of the revenue determination needed
- issue it
- refer the case to a Technical Caseworker
When are new entries added?

COTAX adds new entries to this list on the Monday following the first Friday of each month. You may decide to carry out the monthly review when new Accounting Periods (APs) have appeared on the work list.

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Reasons for entry

COTAX enters a case on the Determination Required No Return List where it meets all the following criteria:
- the Accounting Period (AP) is live
- a notice to deliver has been issued
- the AP ended at least 18 months ago
- no return has been logged
- the filing date or deferred filing date has passed and at least one of the following sets of circumstances exists:
- no revenue determination has been issued and the AP has not been cleared NDR (No Determination Required)
- no penalty determination has been issued for one or more of the penalty stages reached and the accounting period has not been cleared NPR (No Penalty Required).
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Sorting and filtering - Options and recommendations

Before you start to work cases, you may want to sort and filter the list to make it more manageable. You can do that by using any of the criteria below:
- File number
- Name
- AP end date
- AP number
- B/F date
- B/F note
- Entry date
- FT or NFT
- Parent company name
- Parent company reference
- Participator
- Reference
- RLS
- Selected for compulsory enquiry
- Tax paid
The criteria you may find most useful when filtering or sorting the list are:
- File number
- Selected for compulsory enquiry
- Tax paid
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The normal next action function

The normal next action function for the Determination Required No Return List is function RAMA (Record/Amend Assessment).

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Automatic deletion

Cases are automatically deleted from the work list when one of the following actions takes place:
- a filing date or deferred filing date is entered which is later than the date on which the case entered the list
- areturn is logged for the Acounting Period (AP)
- the AP is superseded or made dormant
- the case is transferred to a new office. It automatically populates the work list in the new office
It is also automatically deleted where both of the following sets of circumstances exists:
- a revenue determination has been issued or ‘NDR’ (No Determination Required) has been set
- a penalty determination has been issued for all outstanding penalties or ‘NPR’ (No Penalties Required) has been set
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Manual deletion

You can delete the case manually from the list, but if you have not dealt with both the assessing and penalty aspects of the Accounting Period (AP), COTAX puts the case back on the work list when it next selects cases for review.

See COM22011 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com22011) for a list of functions to use in particular situations.