News Release issued by
the COI News Distribution Service on 01 September 2009
A common approach
to filing company accounts online was announced today in a joint
statement by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Companies House.
In order to reduce potential administrative burdens on business,
Companies House has announced that it will accept company accounts
in a data format known as Inline XBRL (iXBRL). This is the same
format in which all Company Tax Returns (CTRs) – including the
return form, company accounts and tax computations – must be
submitted online to HMRC from April 2011 (for accounting periods
ending after 31 March 2010).
Companies House will introduce their iXBRL service for unaudited
full accounts by the summer of 2010, and then continue to develop
their iXBRL capability for all the main types of accounts they
receive. HMRC’s new iXBRL service for CTRs will be available from
November 2009. Commercial software that is iXBRL-enabled will be
widely available in Spring 2010.
Mark Holden, Programme Director of HMRC’s Carter Programme, which
is responsible for enhancing HMRC’s online services, said:
"Today’s joint statement is an important step towards
our goal of offering a joint filing facility for company accounts
and Company Tax Returns, as recommended by Lord Carter’s Review of
HMRC’s Online Services."
Gareth Jones, Chief Executive of Companies House, added:
"This early statement of our intentions will reassure
businesses that both HMRC and Companies House are working closely
together to align our services to make the filing of accounts as
easy as possible for UK companies."
NAT 55/09
Notes to Editors
1. Copies of the statement are available on the HMRC website at
www.hmrc.gov.uk and the
Companies House website at www.companieshouse.gov.uk.
2. Companies or organisations liable for Corporation Tax have to
complete and file a Company Tax Return (CTR) for each accounting
period. A CTR includes:
a return form – including a self assessment of Corporation Tax
payable and signed declaration;
any return supplementary pages
as appropriate; and
a company or organisation's
accounts, tax computations and any other appropriate information
or documentation.
3. XBRL (short for eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a
computer readable format for financial data. It works by putting a
tag on each piece of electronic data (text or numbers) within a
document.
4. Inline XBRL makes XBRL readable by humans. It guarantees that
the layout and presentation of information looks the same for both
the author and the person receiving it, whether it is being viewed
online or as a printout.
5. XBRL provides major benefits in the preparation, analysis,
re-presentation and communication of business information. It also
offers cost savings through greater efficiency, improved accuracy
and reliability to all those involved in supplying or using
financial data – long term these are expected to far outweigh any
initial development/set up costs. It is based on XML (EXtensible
Markup Language) which is, in computing terms, a mature standard,
and a proven technology that has been in use for many years.
Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press Office &
Companies House Press Office
Press enquiries only please contact:
Companies House
Tel: 02920 380161
Out of hours press@companieshouse.gov.uk
Contacts:
Jan Marszewski
Phone: 020 7147 0798
jan.marszewski@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
HMRC Out of Hours
Phone: 07860 359544
NDS.HMRC@coi.gsi.gov.uk