COM53090 - Claims/reliefs: other reliefs: group and consortium relief, making changes
Source: gov.uk (2025-08-06)


This subject is presented as follows.

Notice of consent requiring amendment of return (#requiring)Withdrawal of consent (#withdrawal)Amount available for surrender reduced (#reduced)Recovering excessive group relief (#recovering)

Notice of consent requiring amendment of return

If the surrendering company has already made its company tax return for the period to which the surrender relates, it must amend the return to reflect the notice of consent at the same time as it gives the notice. See COM53100 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com53100) for more information.

The amendment to the return does not involve updating the surrendering company’s COTAX record as details of the notice of consent are not captured onto COTAX.

If a group relief surrender relates to a trading loss and the surrendering company has already received relief for that loss under Section 393(1) Income and Corporation Taxes Act (ICTA) 1988 (carry forward of trading losses) for one or more later Accounting Periods (APs), it must amend its return for that later AP or APs at the same time as it gives the notice of consent, withdrawing the loss relief under Section 393(1) ICTA 1988 so as to reflect the new notice of consent.

For this purpose, relief under Section 393(1) is treated as given for losses incurred in earlier APs before losses incurred in later APs.

The caseworker dealing with the surrendering company uses the ‘record a taxpayer amendment’ option in function RAMA (Record/Amend Assessment) to record on COTAX the withdrawal of the loss relief for that later AP or APs.

See COM23010 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com23010) for more information.

Withdrawal of consent

If a surrendering company wants to change the amount of group relief it has surrendered, it must withdraw the earlier notice of consent and replace it with a new one. See COM53100 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com53100) for more information.

The withdrawal and replacement of any notice of consent does not involve updating the surrendering company’s COTAX record as details of the notice of consent are not captured onto COTAX.

The claimant company must amend its return, as far as it may do so, to reflect the withdrawal of consent. The caseworker dealing with the claimant company uses the ‘record a taxpayer amendment’ option in function RAMA (Record/Amend Assessment) to record on COTAX the consequential effect on the group relief claim. See COM23010 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com23010) for more information.

If the claimant company cannot, or does not, amend its return to reflect the withdrawal of consent, the caseworker dealing with the claimant company may make an assessment to tax in the amount which ought to be charged to recover the excessive group relief. See below.

Amount available for surrender reduced

If the amount available as group relief is reduced to less than the total already surrendered, the surrendering company must withdraw one or more notices of consent, and if appropriate give one or more new notices to bring the total amount surrendered within the new amount available for surrender. See COM53060 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com53060) for more information.

The withdrawal and replacement of any notice of consent does not involve updating the surrendering company’s COTAX record since details of the notice of consent are not captured onto COTAX.

If a claimant company can amend its return for the Accounting Period (AP) for which less or no group relief is now available, it must do so to reflect any withdrawn, and any new, notice of consent. The caseworker dealing with the claimant company uses the ‘record a taxpayer amendment’ option in function RAMA (Record/Amend Assessment) to record on COTAX the consequential effect on the group relief claim. See COM23010 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com23010) for more information.

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Recovering excessive group relief

If you discover that any group relief which has been given is or has become excessive (for example, where a claimant company cannot, or does not, amend its return for the Accounting Period (AP) for which less or no group relief is now available), you:
- can make an assessment to tax in the amount which ought to be charged to recover the excessive group relief
- cannot make this assessment in COTAX
- should use a SEES 310(Z) assessing set to make the assessment manually
The particulars to enter on the assessment are ‘Paragraph 76 Finance Act 1998 assessment to recover excessive group relief’. Show the tax as payable now.

See:
- COM23130 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com23130) for further guidance on making the assessment
- COM53011 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com53011) for a list of forms relevant to this subject
- COM53012 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com53012) for a list of functions to use in particular situations
- COM53013 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com53013) For legislation applying to this subject