Statutory guidance

Notes for submitting a return under paragraph 1, schedule 23 of the Finance Act 2011, fees commissions entertainment (T16 1FA)

Updated 17 August 2016

This statutory guidance was withdrawn on

If you have received a notice under the above legislation you are legally obliged to make a return to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of the information specified in the notice by the date given in the notice. The notice explains more about this legal obligation and the type of information HMRC require from you.

Sending your return to HMRC

You must send your return to HMRC on a spreadsheet using the template below, follow the guidance notes below and in the comments boxes linked to the headings on the template.

To use the template

Paragraph 1 schedule 23 spreadsheet template

Save the spreadsheet to your computer using the filename shown in your notice.

Use the saved spreadsheet to compile your return. Follow the guidance below and in the yellow comments boxes on the spreadsheet template.

An example of a completed return

Submission methods

After you have compiled your return you must send it to HMRC by the date shown in your notice using one of the following methods:

Secure Electronic Transfer (SET)

This is a secure online submission method through which you can send your spreadsheet return, note that to use SET you will need to buy a security certificate from an external provider (further details on SET)

by email

As ordinary email is not secure HMRC do not recommend using it to send your return, however if you do wish to use email they recommend that you take steps to protect your data in transit as HMRC is not responsible for your return until they receive it - HMRC cannot download decryption software to open your return

If you are a public sector organisation you may have an email system that uses the Government Connect Secure Extranet known as GCSx, GSx or GSI, sending your return to HMRC using this type of email is secure and you should not need to apply any additional protection to your return, don’t password protect attachments when using the Government Connect Secure Extranet as this will cause HMRC firewall to block your email

HMRC’s email address is shown in the letter accompanying your notice, don’t use this email address for general enquiries as it is only monitored for returns, instead phone the number shown on your notice if you need to discuss anything about it

On computer disk (CD)

You can save your return to a CD and post it with your declaration, HMRC is only responsible for the security of the data once they receive it so recommend that you consider taking steps to secure the data in transit

Compiling your spreadsheet return

Confine your return to a single worksheet in a Microsoft Excel workbook, don’t use multiple tabs.

Retain the headings shown on the template, the order of columns is important so please follow the template. Don’t insert additional columns or delete any, if you do not have data to put into a column leave it blank.

When showing addresses please enter the entire address in the field provided (but see below regarding postcodes), don’t use multiple fields or stack address lines one above the other, don’t use commas in any part of the address.

Enter the postcode in the dedicated column provided.

Show the total amount paid for the year to each recipient for the service they provided, don’t show individual payments or subtotals. Where a payee provided several different services show the amounts paid for the year as a separate entry for each service.

Show a ‘payment description’ for each payee, this must be a meaningful description of the service provided by each recipient (for example, ‘Design Consultancy’ or ‘IT Services’). The wording must accurately describe the service provided, payment codes or generic descriptions (such as ‘Services’) are not acceptable.

Don’t use ‘lowercase l’ for 1 or ‘capital O’ for zero. When entering numbers use the digits 0 to 9 only and use a full stop as the decimal point where appropriate, don’t include commas, spaces or currency symbols within figures.

When entering dates please use the format DD/MM/YYYY (for example, 4 October 2010 should be entered as 04/10/2010).

If your return exceeds 65,000 rows on a spreadsheet please split your return into separate spreadsheets, none of which should exceed 65,000 rows. Then send individual spreadsheets rather than use multiple tabs in a single spreadsheet.

Currency codes

The template asks you to enter a code for each amount to identify the appropriate currency. These currency codes are recognised internationally, commonly used currency codes are:

  • UK sterling - GBP
  • Euro - EUR
  • United States dollar - USD
  • Canadian dollar - CAD
  • Australian dollar - AUD

Full list of currency codes

If the currency code column in your return is blank HMRC will assume that the amounts are in UK sterling.

Contacts

If you need to contact HMRC about your return please use the contact details shown on your notice.