Associated company rules

As announced in the Budget earlier this year there will be two rates of Corporation Tax from 1 April 2023. When the new rules take effect, taxable profits up £50,000 will continue to be taxed at 19% under the new Small Business Profits Rate. Taxable profits more than £250,000 will be taxed at 25%. 

The introduction of the two new rates will once again make the issue of associated companies important to consider. Under the new rates, profits between £50,000 and £250,000 will be subject to a marginal tapering relief. This would be reduced for the number of associated companies and for short accounting periods.

A company is an ‘associated company’ of another company if one of the two has control of the other, or both are under the control of the same person or persons. 

The £250,000 limit will be divided by the total number of associated companies. For example, if two companies are deemed to be associated, both companies would pay the main CT rate of 25%, from 1 April 2023 at half the usual threshold, namely at £125,000 rather than £250,000. 

HMRC’s manuals make it clear that a company may be an associated company no matter where it is resident for tax purposes.