Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the companies that were incorporated registered for corporation tax in each of the years (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, (c) 2014-15, (d) 2015-16 and (e) 2016-17; how many of those companies were granted exemption from filing corporation tax returns in each of those years as a result of information provided during the registration process; how many of those companies were granted that exemption on the grounds of being dormant; and how many enquiries were raised each year by HMRC into those companies that did not register for corporation tax on the grounds that it was suspected that they were trading; and how many of those enquiries in each year showed that the company in question was trading, by registered office address of the companies in question sorted by parliamentary constituency in respect of the year 2015-16.

All companies that are on the Register of Companies are automatically registered for Corporation Tax at HMRC by virtue of a daily data feed from Companies House to HMRC.

The numbers registered for each year were:-

Companies are required by law (Section 55 Finance Act 2004) to notify HMRC when they come within the charge to the tax and there is a penalty for failure to do so (Paragraph 2 Schedule 18 Finance Act 1998).

A company must deliver a return if it receives a notice from HMRC requiring it to do so.

HMRC issues notices to companies that it believes to be active, and thus within the charge to the tax because they are active. A company must inform HMRC if it has become chargeable to corporation tax but has not received a notice requiring it to deliver a return. The period for which a company might not be active depends on the circumstances of the company. HMRC reviews companies treated as inactive on a risk basis.

Where HMRC suspects that a company that was treated as inactive has come within the charge to Corporation Tax but has not informed HMRC, a notice requiring a return to be delivered is sent to the company.

HMRC does not keep a central record of how many notices requiring a return are sent in such cases.