CFM91470 - Debt cap: appointment of the authorised company: initial appointment and continued effect

This guidance applies to worldwide group periods of account ending before or straddling 1 April 2017.

The date of appointment of an authorised company

Subject to an officer of HMRC accepting or rejecting the application from an earlier date, the appointment of an authorised company comes into effect three months after the application is delivered to the tax office responsible for the applicant company’s tax affairs.

The application may be accepted by HMRC before the three month period has passed. If the application is accepted before the three month date then the officer may amend the list of relevant group companies or UK group companies (whichever is appropriate to the application) to exclude any company that is not a relevant group company or a UK group company for the relevant period of account.

As a matter of good practice, HMRC staff should review such applications on receipt and notify the company that the application is accepted (or rejected), rather than wait for the appointment to have effect automatically after three months. Where any doubt exists (for example, over whether a particular company is a relevant group company), groups may wish to discuss the application informally with their HMRC Customer Compliance Manager before formal submission.

Once a company is appointed as the authorised company the appointment continues until it is revoked.

For the circumstances under which an application can be rejected see CFM91500.