Pay Corporation Tax if you’re a large company
Source: gov.uk (2025-01-27)

How to work out payments and when you should make them if your company’s annual taxable profits are between £1.5 million and £20 million.

If your company’s profits for an accounting period are at an annual rate of more than £1.5 million, you must normally pay your Corporation Tax for that period electronically and in instalments.

There are different rules you must follow if you have a profit of over £20 million (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pay-corporation-tax-if-youre-a-very-large-company).

Large companies

A large company is one whose profits for the accounting period in question are at an annual rate of more than £1.5 million but less than £20 million.

Generally ‘large’ companies must pay their Corporation Tax (https://www.gov.uk/corporation-tax) electronically by instalments.

Exceptions

Your company does not need to pay by instalments for an accounting period (even though its profits exceed £1.5 million) if either:
- the amount of its total liability for the accounting period is less than £10,000 (or when the accounting period is less than 12 months, less than an annual rate of £10,000)
- it did not exist or did not have an accounting period at any time during the previous 12 months
- its annual rate of profit was no more than £1.5 million, or its annual rate of tax liability was no more than £10,000, for any accounting period which ended in the previous 12 months
If either of these conditions apply, the company must pay its tax in full by the normal payment due date.

Accounting periods beginning before 1 April 2015 and beginning on or after 1 April 2023

If your company has associated companies (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/company-taxation-manual/ctm03940) for accounting periods beginning before 1 April 2015 and beginning on or after 1 April 2023, the £1.5 million and £10 million thresholds are reduced by dividing these by the number of associated companies, plus your company.

This new figure is the relevant threshold for your company.

Example — accounting period from 1 December 2023 to 30 November 2024

A company has 5 associated companies. Its profits for the 12 month accounting period ending 30 November 2024 are £300,000 and its Corporation Tax liability is £75,000. The annual adjusted threshold is:

£1.5 million divided by 6 (that is, 5 + the company itself) = £250,000.

The company is a large company for this accounting period. Even though its profits are less than £1.5 million, they exceed the adjusted annual threshold of £250,000 and its tax liability is greater than £10,000.

A company is associated with another company if:
- one is under the control of the other
- both are under the control of the same person or persons
Control is usually defined by reference to ownership of share capital or voting power.

A company may be an associated company no matter where it’s resident for tax purposes.

Accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2015 and before 1 April 2023

For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2015 and before 1 April 2023, the associated companies rules were replaced by a 51% group test.

If the company has related 51% group companies, the £1.5 million and £10 million thresholds are reduced by dividing these by the number of related 51% group companies plus your company.

This new figure is the relevant threshold for your company.

Company A is a related 51% group company of company B if:
- A is a 51% subsidiary of B
- B is a 51% subsidiary of A
- A and B are 51% subsidiaries of the same company
‘A’ is a 51% subsidiary of ‘B’ if more than 50% of its ordinary share capital is beneficially owned (directly or indirectly) by ‘B’.

Example — accounting period from 1 May 2019 to 30 April 2020

A company has 4 related 51% group companies. Its profits for the 12 month accounting period ending 30 April 2020 are £400,000 and its Corporation Tax liability is £76,000.

The annual adjusted threshold is: £1.5 million divided by 5 (that is, 4 + the company itself) = £300,000.

Although the profits for the accounting period are below £1.5 million, the profits exceed the adjusted annual threshold of £300,000.

As the tax liability also exceeds £10,000, the company is large for the accounting period.

When instalment payments need to be paid

For accounting periods of 12 months, you’ll normally pay your Corporation Tax in 4 quarterly instalments, 2 of which are due before the end of your accounting period.

Accounting periods of 12 months

If your company has a 12 month accounting period, you need to pay in 4 equal instalments due:
- 6 months and 13 days after the first day of the accounting period
- 3 months after the first instalment
- 3 months after the second instalment (14 days after the last day of the accounting period)
- 3 months and 14 days after the last day of the accounting period
This applies to accounting periods ending after 30 June 2002.

Example — accounting period from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026

Accounting periods less than 12 months

If your company has an accounting period less than 12 months, your last instalment will be due 3 months and 14 days after the last day of your accounting period.

If your accounting period is longer than 3 months, the first payment will be due 6 months and 13 days after the first day of the accounting period.

If your accounting period is long enough, other payments will also be due at 3 monthly intervals after then.

Example — accounting period from 1 January 2027 to 31 August 2027

Example — accounting period from 1 January 2027 to 31 March 2027

All Corporation Tax is due in a single instalment on 14 July 2027.

Work out instalment payments

Step 1: estimate your company’s total liability

To work out your instalment payments, first estimate your Corporation Tax liability for the accounting period, including any tax due on:
- loans to directors (https://www.gov.uk/directors-loans) and other participators in ‘close’ companies
- controlled foreign companies (https://www.gov.uk/controlled-foreign-company-an-overview)
Then, deduct all reliefs and set-offs to arrive at your company’s total liability, as you would when working out your Corporation Tax due on your Company Tax Return (https://www.gov.uk/prepare-file-annual-accounts-for-limited-company).

Use this figure to work out your instalment payments.

Step 2: work out the amount of each instalment

For a 12 month accounting period, you pay your total liability in 4 equal instalments. Each instalment is a quarter of your company’s total liability.

For accounting periods of 3 months or less, make 1 single payment of your company’s total liability.

For accounting periods longer than 3 months but less than 12, all instalments except the last will be the company’s total liability divided by the number of months in the accounting period, multiplied by 3.

The last instalment will be your company’s total liability, less the payments made so far.

Example — accounting period from 1 January 2027 to 31 August 2027 and £900,000 in Corporation Tax to pay

Step 3: revise your estimate and adjust your payments

Your estimate of your Corporation Tax liability may change as the accounting period progresses. This may even happen after your last instalment payment. You’ll need to work out each instalment payment based on the revised figure.

If you think your liability is going to be greater than your earlier estimates, you’ll need to make one or more ‘top-up’ payments to cover the shortfall in your previous instalments.

You can make additional payments at any time. You may need to pay interest if you’ve made instalment payments that turn out to be lower than your actual liability.

If you later find that you’ve paid too much (or should not have made a payment at all), you’ll normally be able to claim back your overpayment, or you can leave the overpayment with HMRC and deduct the overpayment from future instalment payments.

You might receive interest on overpayments of instalment payments and on payments made early.

Ring fence companies

If your company is liable to Corporation Tax and supplementary charge on profits from ring fence activities (UK Continental Shelf oil-related activities that under UK law constitute a separate trade), you’ll pay any Corporation Tax due on non-ring fence profits in instalments using the normal rules.

For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2019, if your profits exceed £20 million, you will pay any tax due on non-ring fence profits by instalments using the rules for very large companies. Find out more about the rules you must follow if you have a profit of over £20 million (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pay-corporation-tax-if-youre-a-very-large-company).

You’ll also need to pay the Corporation Tax and supplementary charge on your ring fence profits in a maximum of 3 equal instalments due:
- 6 months and 13 days after the first day of the accounting period
- 3 months after the first instalment
- 14 days after the last day of the accounting period
This applies to accounting periods ending after 30 June 2005.

For 12 month accounting periods ending after 30 June 2005 but before 1 July 2006, instalments are 25%, 25% and 50% of the ring fence liability.

Example — accounting period from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027

Example — accounting period from 1 January 2027 to 31 May 2027

The date the third instalment would be due (14 June 2027) falls before any of the other payment due dates, then all the ring fence tax is due is payable on 14 June 2027.

Work out instalment payments for ring fence companies

If your company is liable for Corporation Tax and supplementary charge on profits from ring fence activities, work out instalments for Corporation Tax due on non-ring fence profits using the normal rules.

You’ll also need to work out your instalments for the Corporation Tax and supplementary charge on your ring fence profits.

Step 1: work out your ring fence amount

Estimate the ring fence Corporation Tax and supplementary charge payable for the accounting period.

Step 2: work out your instalment payments

For a 12 month accounting period, you pay your total liability in 3 equal instalments, each one a third of the ring fence amount.

For accounting periods of 4 months or less, you make 1 single payment of your total liability.

For accounting periods longer than 4 months but less than 12, your payments are the smaller of the balance of the ring fence amount unpaid, or the ring fence amount divided by the number of months in the accounting period, multiplied by 4.

These rules apply for accounting periods ending on or after 1 July 2006.

If you want to check calculations for accounting periods ending after 30 June 2005 but before 1 July 2006, use the following:

Ring fence amount ÷ the number of months in the accounting period for shorter periods x 3.

Step 3: revise your estimate and adjust your payments

Your estimate of your Corporation Tax liability may change as the accounting period progresses. This may even happen after your last instalment payment. You’ll need to work out your instalment payments based on the revised figure.

If you think your liability is going to be greater than your earlier estimates, you’ll need to make one or more ‘top-up’ payments to cover the shortfall in your previous instalments.

You can make additional payments at any time. You may need to pay interest if you’ve made instalment payments that turn out to be lower than your actual liability.

If you later find that you’ve paid too much (or should not have made a payment at all), you’ll normally be able to claim back your overpayment, or you can leave the overpayment with HMRC and deduct the overpayment from future instalment payments. You might receive interest on overpayments of instalment payments and on payments made early.

Groups of companies

Group companies can choose to offset an amount overpaid by one company against an amount unpaid by another company in the group.

HMRC also offers Group Payment Arrangements (https://www.gov.uk/corporation-tax-group-payment-arrangements), which allow groups to make instalment payments on a group-wide basis. You can nominate one company in the group to pay the instalments on behalf of the group, rather than company by company.

Make an instalment payment

You must make all Corporation Tax and related payments electronically (https://www.gov.uk/pay-corporation-tax).

Related payments include interest charged on overdue Corporation Tax and penalties for not filing your Company Tax Return on time.

Pay your instalment payments electronically online using:
- a payment through your online bank account
- Direct Debit
- debit card
- company credit card
- your own bank or building society’s internet banking service
Pay electronically (but not online) using:
- Bacs Direct Credit
- your own bank or building society’s telephone banking service
- CHAPS
- Bank Giro
Interest and instalment payments

Interest charged by HMRC

HMRC charges interest on late or underpaid instalments (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates-for-late-and-early-payments). If you need to pay this interest, it’s tax deductible for Corporation Tax purposes.

To distinguish this from interest on normal late payments, HMRC calls this ‘debit interest (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ctmanual/CTM92660.htm)’.

This interest is only worked out and charged when you submit your Company Tax Return.

Interest paid to you

HMRC will pay your company interest if:
- you make instalment payments that turn out to be unnecessary
- you pay them early
- your payment is too high
Any interest paid will be worked out from the later of the first instalment date or when an overpayment occurs.

The interest paid by HMRC is taxable for Corporation Tax purposes. This interest is only worked out and charged retrospectively, once the liability for the period is established, normally when you submit your Company Tax Return.

The rate for this interest is different from the rate of interest charged on late payments and underpayments. HMRC calls this interest ‘credit interest (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ctmanual/CTM92670.htm)’.

Example — no ring fence liability and an accounting period from 1 January to 31 December

The company reviews the estimate of its final liability at regular intervals and, when appropriate, adjusts its instalment payments (or, if necessary, makes top-up payments) to minimise any interest charge. It sends a Company Tax Return showing a final tax liability of £120 million.

In this example, interest is due as follows:

Penalties on instalment payments

A penalty may be charged if you deliberately:
- fail to make instalment payments
- make instalment payments that are too small
Find out more about Corporation Tax penalties (https://www.gov.uk/corporation-tax-penalties).

Repayment claims

If, following a review at the next instalment date of the latest management accounts and forecasts, you find that your Corporation Tax liability will be less than expected, you can make a claim for repayment of some or all of your instalment payments.

Claims must be made to an officer of HMRC and must state both:
- the amount that you consider should be repaid
- amount of your total liability for the period is likely to be less than previously worked out
- cumulative payments are more than the revised liability
In some circumstances, you may make a repayment claim when your revised liability includes anticipated losses from your current accounting period that has not yet ended.

This may occur if you have sustained significant losses. You will need to provide supporting evidence to verify the losses and support your claim for repayment. Find out more about repayment claims in the HMRC company taxation manual (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/company-taxation-manual/ctm92650).