How and when to pay your Corporation Tax bill.

Paying and filing are two separate deadlines

Corporation Tax has two dates attached to each accounting period, and they are easy to mix up.

• Payment: usually 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period.
• Company Tax Return: due 12 months after the end of the accounting period.

So the tax is normally due three months before the return that works it out. It is easy to plan to pay when you file. If you wait for the return deadline, the payment is already three months late.

An accounting period is usually the same as your company's financial year, the period your annual accounts cover.

How much you will pay

For accounting periods in the financial year starting 1 April 2026, GOV.UK gives these rates:

• Small profits rate, 19%: for profits of £50,000 or less
• Main rate, 25%: for profits over £250,000
• Marginal Relief: for profits between £50,000 and £250,000, which gives an effective rate between the two

The £50,000 and £250,000 limits are reduced for accounting periods shorter than 12 months. They are also reduced if your company has associated companies.

A worked example

Larger companies pay in instalments

The 9 months and 1 day rule covers companies with taxable profits up to £1.5 million. Above that, a company normally pays in quarterly instalments, some of them before the year has even ended.

For a 12-month period, the four instalments fall roughly in months 7, 10, 13 and 16, counting from the first day of the period. GOV.UK's own example is a year from 1 January to 31 December 2026, with instalments due on 14 July, 14 October, 14 January and 14 April.

There are exceptions. A company does not pay by instalments if its liability for the period is under £10,000. It also pays in full by the normal due date if its profits are no more than £10 million and, in the previous 12 months, it either did not exist or was not over the £1.5 million instalment limit. The £1.5 million and £10 million limits are divided between associated companies. Companies with profits over £20 million follow separate rules.

Find your payment reference first

Every payment needs your 17-character Corporation Tax payment reference. Each accounting period has its own reference, so it changes every time you pay.

You can find it in three places:

• The notice to deliver a Company Tax Return that HMRC sends
• Payment reminders from HMRC
• Your company's HMRC online account, under Corporation Tax statements

Take care with saved payees in your banking app. If you paid last year's bill and kept HMRC as a payee, the old reference is probably still saved. HMRC says a payment with the wrong reference may be delayed, or used to pay a different tax bill you owe.

Ways to pay and how long each one takes

HMRC counts a payment as made on the date it reaches HMRC, not the date you press send. So the method matters if you are close to the deadline.

Same day or next day

• Approve a payment through your online bank. You start on GOV.UK, choose to pay by bank account, then sign in to your bank and approve it. GOV.UK says this is usually instant.
• Faster Payments by online or telephone banking. These usually reach HMRC the same or next day.
• CHAPS. Usually the same working day if you pay within your bank's processing times.
• Debit or corporate credit card online. HMRC accepts the payment on the date you make it, even at weekends. There is a non-refundable fee for corporate credit and corporate debit cards. There is no fee for a personal debit card. Personal credit cards are not accepted.
• At your bank or building society. GOV.UK lists this in the same day or next day group.

3 working days

• Bacs by online or telephone banking
• Direct Debit, if you have already set one up with HMRC

5 working days

• Direct Debit set up for the first time. You set it up through your company's HMRC online account.

HMRC's bank details

For a bank transfer from a UK account, GOV.UK says to use HMRC Cumbernauld if you are not sure which account to pay:

• Account name: HMRC Cumbernauld
• Sort code: 08 32 10
• Account number: 12001039

Always check these against the GOV.UK bank details page before you pay. Scam emails and letters sometimes give fake HMRC bank details.

Deadlines that fall on a weekend or bank holiday

If the payment date lands on a weekend or bank holiday, the money needs to reach HMRC on the last working day before it. GOV.UK says this rule does not apply to Faster Payments made by online or telephone banking.

In practice, the safest habit is to pay a week or more early and stop worrying about processing times.

What happens if you pay late

HMRC charges interest on Corporation Tax paid after the due date. For the normal 9 months and 1 day deadline, late payment interest is set at the Bank of England base rate plus 4%. That margin has applied since 6 April 2025.

It works the other way too. If you overpay, HMRC pays interest on the overpayment.

Late payment interest is separate from penalties for filing the return late. Paying the tax on time does not remove the need to file the return on time.

If your company has nothing to pay

Some companies make a loss or have no taxable profit for a period. If there is nothing to pay, tell HMRC using the "nil to pay" form on GOV.UK. If you do not, HMRC will keep sending payment reminders.

You still have to file the Company Tax Return for that period, even when the tax is nil.

Check that HMRC has received the money

Your company's HMRC online account shows whether a payment has arrived. GOV.UK says it should update within a few days of HMRC receiving the payment.

Plan for the bill before it arrives

The hardest part of Corporation Tax is rarely the payment itself. It is knowing the right figure early enough to have the cash ready.

• Keep a running estimate. If your books are up to date each month, you can see profit building and set money aside as you go.
• Use a separate savings account. Moving a share of profit each month means the bill is already covered when the due date comes.
• Get the accounts done early. Your accounts and tax return can be finished well before the payment date, so you know the exact figure, not a guess.
• Diary both dates. Put the payment date and the return date in the calendar as soon as your year ends.

All of this depends on clean records. If the bookkeeping is months behind, nobody knows the profit until the year-end accounts are done, and that can leave very little time before the tax is due.