COM122020 - Repayments/reallocations: non automatic reallocations: S963 CTA 2010/Reg 9 surrender
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-03)


This subject is presented as follows.

Surrender of overpayments within groups (#IDAO3FBI)S964(2) CTA 2010 (#IDAW3FBI)Regulation 9 of the Quarterly Instalment Regulations (#IDAV5FBI)S966(1) and (2) CTA 2010 (#IDA3YMOG)S963(5) CTA 2010 (#IDAJZMOG)Form of joint notice (#IDARZMOG)Form CT600 (#IDAN0MOG)

Surrender of overpayments within groups

Groups of companies can minimise their exposure to interest on overdue tax by surrendering overpayments within the group. A company that is a member of a group and is due a repayment can give notice jointly with another member of the group that it wants to surrender a specified amount of the refund to the other company.

S964(2) CTA 2010

This applies where neither company pays their CT by quarterly instalments, see below for large companies for the Regulation 9 amendment to S963 CTA 2010.

If joint notice is given in respect of an amount of tax, treat the recipient company as having paid the tax and the surrendering company as though the tax had been repaid to it,on the normal due date (see glossary) for the Accounting Period (AP) to which the tax relates. If the repayment is of CT paid late you use the date of payment. For the purposes of calculating any penalty that may arise, COTAX penalty processing recognises the EDP as the date the notice was given. See COM122030 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com122030) for more information.

Also, treat the recipient company as having paid any late payment interest under S87A Taxes Management Act (TMA) 1970 paid by the surrendering company on the amount of refund surrendered.

For this provision to apply:
- both the surrendering and recipient companies must be members of the same group from the date on which the AP to which the refund relates began, to the date on which they give notice
- the AP to which the refund relates must be the same for both companies
- the joint notice must be given to the Technical Caseworker dealing with the surrendering company before the refund is made
- neither party to the surrender must be quarterly instalment payers
The recipient company can itself surrender the refund (or part of it) to another group company, provided it meets the above conditions.

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Regulation 9 of the Quarterly Instalment Regulations

This regulation amends Section 964 (S964) Corporation Taxes Act (CTA) 2010 for quarterly instalment payers. Grouped companies who pay by quarterly instalments can surrender excessive instalment payments to other group companies. The difference to the S964 CTA 2010 surrender is that the actual date of payment of a specified payment moves with that payment rather than the normal due date or date of payment if it is later. All the credit interest, debit interest, and repayment interest postings relating to the surrendered payment move to the receiving company.

For this provision to apply:
- both the surrendering and recipient companies must be members of the same group from the date on which the Accounting Period (AP) to which the refund relates began, to the date on which they give notice
- the AP to which the refund relates must be the same for both companies
- the joint notice must be given to the Technical Caseworker dealing with the surrendering company before the refund is made
- the surrendering company must specify both the instalment and how much of it is to be surrendered
Regulation 9 continues to operate after the normal due date has passed.

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Section 966 (S966)(1) and (2) Corporation Taxes Act (CTA) 2010

Any payment made between the surrendering and recipient companies in respect of a transferred tax refund is treated as having no tax consequences.

It is not taken into account in computing profits or losses of either company for CT purposes and it is not regarded as a distribution or a charge on income.

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S963(5) CTA 2010

Two companies are members of the same group for this purpose if they would be for the purposes of group relief. For more information see Company Taxation Manual (CTM) at CTM80055 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/company-taxation-manual/ctm80055) onwards.

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Form of joint notice

There is no prescribed form which companies must use to give a joint notice of surrender. Although the notice can be in any form it should show:
- the name and tax reference of the surrendering company
- the name and tax reference of the recipient company
- the type and amount of each refund surrendered
The notice should also contain a declaration jointly signed by an authorised person on behalf of each company.

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Form CT600

Companies cannot give the joint notice on form CT600. They can use the form, however, to bring the joint notice to the attention of the Technical Caseworker.

The surrendering company should use box 900 of the CT600 on version 3 (box 145 on version 2) and supplementary page CT600C to make the claim.

The recipient company can show an intended surrender in its return by completing box 610 of the CT600 on version 3 (box 94 on version 2). It should also enclose a copy of the joint notice with the return.

See the Action Guide at COM122053 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com122053) for guidance on actioning Section 963/Regulation 9 claims on COTAX.

See:
- COM122021 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com122021) for a list of forms relevant to this subject
- COM122022 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com122022) for legislation applying to this subject