Everything you file from Tax Optimiser stays with the accounting period it was filed for. To find a Company Tax Return (CT600) or a set of accounts you have already sent, open that period and use the two submission links in its menu. This page shows where they are, what each screen tells you and how to download a copy.
Open the accounting period
Click Accounts and Corp Tax in the main menu. (For a club or charity that files a CT600 but no accounts, the link is called Corporation Tax.) If you work for an accountancy firm, open the client first: Organisations, click the client, then Accounts and Corp Tax.
The Accounting Periods list has one row for each year. The Corporation Tax Status column reads Complete once HMRC has accepted the return for that year. Click the period name to open it.
If the year you want is not in the list, look above the table for Show archived periods and Show not required periods and switch them on. The switches only appear when the company has periods of that kind.
The two links in the period menu
Once a period is open, the menu on the left changes to that period. Two of its links take you to what was filed:
- Corp Tax Submission — the CT600 sent to HMRC.
- Companies House Submission — the accounts sent to Companies House.
When the company has more than one period, the period name at the top of that menu is a dropdown. Pick another year from it and you stay on the same screen for that year, which is the quickest way to look back through earlier filings.
Heads up — a link is hidden when that filing is marked as not required for the period. If you can’t see Companies House Submission or Corp Tax Submission, see If you can’t find it.
Find the Corporation Tax return
Click Corp Tax Submission. What opens depends on what the period holds:
- One accepted return — the return opens straight away.
- More than one return, or a return HMRC has not answered yet — you see the Corporation Tax Returns list. Click the return name, or Actions then Edit, to open one.
- A period you have chosen to amend — the submission wizard opens with the note A return for this period has already been accepted by HMRC. Click View filed returns in that note to reach the list.
The list shows every return prepared for the period, including amended returns (marked Amended) and any that HMRC rejected, with the status of each, the date it was started and who started it.
What the filed return shows
- Status, top right — Complete means HMRC accepted the return.
- Submitted by — the person who sent it.
- Submitted — the date and time HMRC accepted it.
- IR Mark — HMRC’s receipt for the return, a 32-character code that identifies exactly what was filed. Quote it if you ever need to prove to HMRC that the return was received.
- Payments — the tax due for the period and any payments you have recorded against it.
- Logs — each message exchanged with HMRC. An accepted return has an acknowledgement followed by a response.
Download what was sent
The buttons above the return download the documents that went to HMRC with it, exactly as they were when you sent them:
- Accounts XBRL and Accounts PDF — the accounts attached to the return.
- Computation XBRL and Computation PDF — the tax computation.
- Signed accounts — any signed copy you uploaded for the period.
A button is greyed out when there is no stored copy of that document. The accounts buttons are greyed out for a club or charity that sent its own PDF accounts.
Get a copy of the CT600 form
The CT600 form is on a different screen. Click Corp Tax Calculations in the period menu, then CT600 Document under Output documents at the bottom of the sections list, and click Download.
Heads up — this PDF is built from the figures as they are now, not stored when you filed. If anything in the period has changed since, it will no longer match what HMRC holds, and the screen says so with the note Current figures, not the filed copy. The accounts and computation on the return page are the stored copies. If you want a CT600 PDF for your records, download it on the day you file.
Find the Companies House filing
Click Companies House Submission in the period menu. As with Corporation Tax, a period with one filing opens it straight away. Otherwise you see the Companies House Filings list, with the Submission number, whether the filing is the Original or Amended, its Status and the date it was Accepted. Click the submission number, or Actions then View.
- Status, top right — Complete means Companies House accepted the accounts.
- Companies House acknowledgement — confirms that Companies House has acknowledged the filing.
- Submitted by and Submitted — who sent the accounts, and when Companies House accepted them.
- Submission number — the reference for this filing. Quote it if you need to ask Companies House about it.
- Companies House no. — the company number the accounts were filed for.
- Document preview — the accounts exactly as they were filed. Click View submission at the top to open them in a new tab, where you can print them or save them as a PDF from your browser.
- Logs — the history of the filing, including when it was accepted.
View Accounts in the period menu also has Download PDF and Download iXBRL. Those are built from the accounts as they are now, so use View submission when you need the copy that was filed.
What the statuses mean
Both screens use the same statuses. There is no status called Accepted or Rejected: an accepted filing is Complete and a rejected one is Error.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Ready to start | Nothing has been prepared for this period yet. |
| Ready to send | A filing has been prepared in the wizard but not sent. |
| Submitting | The CT600 has been sent and HMRC has not answered yet. |
| Submitted | The accounts have been sent and Companies House has not answered yet. |
| Complete | Accepted. The filing is done. |
| Error | Rejected, or it could not be sent. Open it to see why. |
| Not Required | You have told Tax Optimiser this filing is not needed for the period. |
If it is still being processed
A filing at Submitting or Submitted has been received and is waiting for an answer. Do not send it again. Tax Optimiser keeps asking for the answer in the background, and you can ask yourself at any time:
- for a CT600, click Check with HMRC beside the return in the Corporation Tax Returns list;
- for accounts, click Check with Companies House in the Companies House Filings list, or Poll again on the filing itself.
HMRC usually answers within a minute or two. Companies House can take longer, especially close to a filing deadline.
Periods longer than 12 months
A period of more than 12 months needs two CT600s, and Tax Optimiser keeps them together as one return. The return shows IR Mark for the first 12 months and IR Mark (P2) for the remainder, and CT600 Document shows two forms, Period 1 (first 12 months) and Period 2 (remainder). After HMRC accepts the first return the status goes back to Ready to send until you send the second. See Accounting periods longer than 12 months.
Accountancy firms: finding filings across all your clients
To look across every client, use Accounts and Corp Tax in the firm’s main menu. This Accounting Periods list hides finished periods to begin with, so tick Include Complete to bring the filed ones back, then use the search box to find the client by name or reference.
For Companies House filings there is also one list of everything the firm has sent. On the same page, click Actions then Companies House Processing. The Companies House Submissions list shows the submission number, organisation, accounting period, accepted date and status of every filing.
The client’s Overview page only lists periods that still have something to file, so a fully filed period drops off it. Open the client’s Accounts and Corp Tax list to see those.
If you can’t find it
- The menu link is missing. The period has that filing marked as not required. If the accounts or the return were filed somewhere else, that is correct, and the filing is not held in Tax Optimiser.
- The period is missing. Switch on Show archived periods and Show not required periods on the Accounting Periods list. Also check you have the right organisation selected.
- The submission wizard opens, not the filed return. Either nothing was accepted for the period, or the period is set up to be amended. Look for View filed returns at the top of the wizard.
- The status is Error. The filing was rejected and has not been filed. See CT600 submission errors for what HMRC’s message means.
- You are looking for a confirmation email. Tax Optimiser does not email you when a filing is accepted, so there is nothing to search your inbox for. The confirmation is the Complete status with the IR mark or submission number.
- You want to check the public record. Accepted accounts appear in the company’s filing history on the Companies House register once Companies House has processed them. A filed CT600 shows in the company’s HMRC online account.
If a filing you are sure you sent is not there, contact support with the company name and the period.
Need to change something you have filed? See Amending a CT600 after it has been filed and How to amend a set of accounts.
Frequently asked questions
How do I prove a return or set of accounts was filed?
Open the filing. A status of Complete with an IR mark (for a CT600) or a submission number (for accounts) means it was accepted. The Submission details card also shows who sent it and when it was accepted.
Where is the IR mark for my CT600?
Open the period, click Corp Tax Submission and open the return. The IR mark is in the Submission details card. A period longer than 12 months has two, IR Mark and IR Mark (P2).
Does Tax Optimiser email me when a filing is accepted?
No. The confirmation is on screen, as the Complete status on the filing. HMRC and Companies House may send their own emails to the addresses they hold for the company.
Can I download the CT600 I filed?
The accounts and the tax computation that went with the return are stored and can be downloaded from the return at any time. The CT600 form is on Corp Tax Calculations under CT600 Document, and it is rebuilt from the current figures, so it only matches the filed return while the period is unchanged.
I amended a return. Can I still see the original?
Yes. The original stays in the Corporation Tax Returns list next to the amended return, with its own IR mark and documents. The same is true of amended accounts in the Companies House Filings list.
Can a filed return be deleted?
No. A filing that has been accepted, or that is still waiting for an answer, has no Delete option, because its row holds the record of what was sent.