Revenue and Companies House to offer common online filing facility

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Companies House will adopt a common approach to filing company accounts online, it has been announced.

Companies House will accept company accounts in the new data format Inline XBRL (iXBRL), which is the format in which all company tax returns must be submitted to HMRC from 2011, for those accounting periods ending after 31 March 2010.

The move is intended to reduce administrative burdens on businesses.

Companies House will be introducing their iXBRL service for unaudited full accounts by the summer of 2010, and will thereafter continue to extend their iXBRL capability for all the main types of account.

Meanwhile, HMRC's new iXBRL service for company tax returns will be available from November 2009.

The Chief Executive of Companies House, Gareth Jones, said, 'This early statement of our intentions will reassure businesses that both HMRC and Companies House are working closely together to align our services to make the filing of accounts as easy as possible for UK companies'.