Avanti has a company client that have taken a number of loans in recent years that remain outstanding, business is improving, and the company is going to start paying interest on those loans. They have a mixture of loans; one from the director, one from a UK company and one from a company abroad.
Does the company have to deduct tax before making the interest payments?
The duty to deduct tax in respect of interest payments will differ in each of the 3 scenarios so let’s have a look at each in turn.
The duty to deduct basic rate (20%) income tax is set out in legislation and imposes the duty to deduct income tax on ‘yearly’ interest paid in certain circumstances. There is no statutory definition of the term ‘yearly’ however, a useful discussion of the term can be found in various HMRC manuals.
- In our first scenario, where the company is paying interest to an individual. The company will have to deduct basic rate tax and it will also have to complete and submit form CT61 within 14 days of the end of the quarter return period.
- In the second scenario where the company is paying another UK resident company, the payment can be made gross of tax. It is worth noting that the guidance sets out an exception to this rule, for example when the person receiving the interest is only acting in the capacity of a nominee.
- The third scenario involves a payment to a non-resident company. The basic position is that tax would need to be deducted at the basic rate. However, it is possible for a double taxation agreement (DTA) to override this basic position. That is to say that the obligation can be changed or removed where both a claim is made and the DTA allows for this. Often a DTA will allow for a reduced rate of tax to applied. The actual rate will vary country to country.
There is a requirement to make a claim, the treaty rate cannot simply be applied automatically. As the recipient is a non-resident company the claim is made via a form; ‘DT Company” which can be found here.
Alternatively, It is possible for a non-resident company to register for the Double Taxation Treaty Passport (DTTP) Scheme and then it would then be possible for the UK company to apply the treaty rate without the need to make an application.
Each DTA will bring its own peculiarities and the situation is a little more complex in respect of royalties. As such, we would ask that you call us to discuss these aspects further.
Finally, it is worth noting that
the UK does not withhold tax in respect of dividends.[1]
[1] Reproduced with permission from Croner Taxwise