iXBRL Filing Of Company Tax Returns And Accounts

Mandatory tagging of corporation tax computations and accounts using iXBRL is fast approaching. Will you be compliant?

What is iXBRL?

From 1 April 2011 all company tax returns must be filed electronically with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for accounting periods ending on or after 1 April 2010. The following documents to support the tax return must be filed electronically using 'Inline Extensible Business Reporting Language' or 'iXBRL':

Corporation tax computation; and Financial statements (statutory accounts). Any other supporting documents can, as now, be filed using PDF.

The requirement to file electronically does not cover amendments to company tax returns.

'Tagging' using iXBRL means that certain figures and narrative in the tax computation and statutory accounts are given a computer-readable identity.

This is invisible to somebody reading the document on screen or on paper, but the tags are visible to HMRC's computer system. HMRC may use the tags to improve their processing of returns, risk assessment (e.g. easily identifying anomalous figures) and for other reasons.

Corporation tax computations

If Smith & Williamson prepares your company tax return and supporting tax computations, we will tag these for you, so they will be fully iXBRL compliant before the 1 April 2011 deadline and you need not take any further action.

However, if you prepare and submit your own tax computation and ask Smith & Williamson to review it, you will need to consider how you are going to apply iXBRL tags to your computation before it is submitted to HMRC. You can:

Ask us to prepare your tax computations in the future; Ask us to input your own tax computations into our own software, which we can then tag for you; Consider using the facility provided on the HMRC website to submit the return, which is aimed at small companies with simple tax affairs; or Make your own arrangements to produce iXBRL-compliant computations. The two main ways to achieve this are either to use a firm that specialises in tagging computations, or to purchase software to enable you to tag your computations yourself. HMRC maintains a list of companies that have developed software products and/ or can provide a tagging service. These companies have passed tests prepared by HMRC and therefore comply with the requirements of iXBRL. We have been in contact with a couple of these firms and also with a couple of other firms that have contacted us offering the iXBRL tagging service. Details of...