How to Pay HMRC Corporation Tax: Methods, Deadlines, and Penalties

To pay HMRC Corporation Tax, send the money by electronic bank transfer to HMRC Cumbernauld (sort code 08 32 10, account 12001039) using your company’s 17-character payment reference for that accounting period, and make sure it clears HMRC’s account by nine months and one day after the end of the period. Faster Payments usually arrive the same or next working day; CHAPS clears the same day if you submit before your bank’s cut-off; Bacs takes three working days. The reference is what tells HMRC which company and which period the money belongs to, and a wrong or missing reference is the single most common reason a paid bill still shows as unpaid.

When the Money Has to Clear

For most companies, the full bill is due in one payment, nine months and one day after the accounting period ends. A period ending 31 March has a payment deadline of 1 January the following year. A six-month period ending 30 September has a deadline of 1 July the following year.¹

This is not the same as the filing deadline for your Company Tax Return (CT600), which is 12 months after the period ends. The gap catches people out: filing on time doesn’t stop interest running if the money was due three months earlier.

The Two Numbers You Need Before You Pay

Your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) is the 10-digit number assigned to your company when it registered for Corporation Tax. It appears on HMRC correspondence such as the notice to deliver a Company Tax Return, and inside your company’s HMRC online account.²

The 17-character payment reference is different. It is built from your UTR plus characters identifying the specific accounting period, so it changes every period. You can find the right one on your notice to deliver a Company Tax Return, on any payment reminder from HMRC, or in your HMRC online account by selecting the relevant accounting period.³

Type it exactly as shown. If the reference is wrong or missing, HMRC holds the payment in a suspense account, your liability stays flagged as unpaid, and late payment interest starts running.

How to Send the Payment

HMRC accepts several methods. Clearing times vary a lot, so the method matters more as the deadline gets closer.

Faster Payments or CHAPS

Online or telephone banking is the most direct route. Faster Payments usually credits the same day or the next working day. CHAPS guarantees same-day clearance if you submit before your bank’s daily cut-off, which makes it the safest choice for a last-minute payment. CHAPS normally carries a bank fee, so it mainly earns its place on large or late payments.¹

HMRC’s bank details for UK transfers:

Sort code: 08 32 10
Account number: 12001039
Account name: HMRC Cumbernauld

Put the 17-character payment reference in the bank’s reference field.⁴

Bacs

If your transfer goes through Bacs rather than Faster Payments, allow three working days. A Monday payment clears Wednesday; a Friday payment doesn’t clear until the following Wednesday. Confirm with your bank which network it will use before paying close to the deadline.¹

Debit or Corporate Credit Card

HMRC’s online payment portal accepts personal debit cards, corporate debit cards, and corporate credit cards. Personal debit cards are free. Corporate debit and credit cards carry a non-refundable processing fee. Personal credit cards are not accepted. Payment usually credits the same day or the next working day.⁵

Direct Debit

Set one up through your company’s HMRC online account. The first Direct Debit takes five working days to process. Any Direct Debit after that takes three. Useful if you want to schedule the payment ahead of the deadline, but only if you remember to set it up in good time.⁶

Paying From an Overseas Account

Payment has to be in pounds sterling, and your bank may charge for the currency conversion. Use one of HMRC’s two international accounts:

BIC: BARCGB22, IBAN: GB62 BARC 2011 4770 2976 90, Account name: HMRC Cumbernauld
BIC: BARCGB22, IBAN: GB03 BARC 2011 4783 9776 92, Account name: HMRC Shipley

Include the 17-character payment reference in the reference or additional information field. International transfers can take several working days, so start the payment well before the deadline.⁴

If Your Profits Are Above £1.5 Million

Companies with annual taxable profits above £1.5 million generally can’t wait for the standard deadline. They have to estimate the liability and pay in four quarterly installments across the accounting period. For a standard 12-month period, the first installment is due six months and 13 days after the period starts, then three-month intervals, with the fourth due three months and 14 days after the period ends.⁷

Three things change the picture. First, the £1.5 million threshold is divided by the total number of associated companies, including yours, so group structures hit the regime at much lower per-company profit levels.⁸ Second, a company crossing the threshold for the first time can skip installments for that year if its profits are no more than £10 million and either it had no accounting period in the previous 12 months, or its profits in the prior period were £1.5 million or below. Third, any company otherwise in the installment regime that owes less than £10,000 in total for the period is exempt and can pay by the standard deadline.⁷

Companies with profits above £20 million face an accelerated version of the schedule, with the first installment due two months and 13 days after the start of the period and no first-year grace period.⁹

Checking the Payment Arrived

Sign in to your company’s HMRC online account. A recent payment can take up to seven days to appear. At first it shows under “Your balance”; once fully processed it moves to “View payments and credits.” If nothing shows after seven days, confirm with your bank that the transfer actually left before contacting HMRC.¹⁰

What Late Payment Costs

Interest runs from the day after the deadline until the payment clears. As of January 2026 the late payment interest rate is 7.75%, applied daily on the outstanding balance, and it isn’t tax-deductible.¹¹

Late filing is penalised separately from late payment. HMRC charges £100 if the CT600 is up to three months late, £200 between three and six months, and then adds 10% of the unpaid tax at six months and another 10% at 12 months.¹²

If you overpay, HMRC pays repayment interest on the excess, currently 3.50% for companies in the quarterly installment regime and 2.75% for everyone else. You have four years from the end of the accounting period to claim an overpayment.¹³

Fixing a Payment Mistake

If you used the wrong reference, contact HMRC with the exact amount paid, the date, and the incorrect reference you entered. HMRC can reallocate the funds from the suspense account to the correct liability, and any late payment interest triggered by the misallocation should stop once that’s done.

If you underpaid, send a top-up straight away using the same 17-character reference for that accounting period. If you overpaid, you can claim a refund once your CT600 confirms the actual liability; HMRC normally processes it after verifying the return, with repayment interest running from the date of the excess payment.⁴

1
GOV.UK. Pay Your Corporation Tax Bill – Overview
2
GOV.UK. Find Your UTR Number
3
GOV.UK. Pay Your Corporation Tax Bill – At Your Bank or Building Society
4
GOV.UK. Pay Your Corporation Tax Bill – Bank Details
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GOV.UK. Pay Your Corporation Tax Bill – By Debit or Corporate Credit Card Online
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GOV.UK. Pay Your Corporation Tax Bill – Direct Debit
7
GOV.UK. Pay Corporation Tax If You’re a Large Company
8
GOV.UK. Company Taxation Manual – CTM03955
9
GOV.UK. Pay Corporation Tax If You’re a Very Large Company
10
GOV.UK. Check Your Payment Has Been Received
11
GOV.UK. HMRC Interest Rates for Late and Early Payments
12
GOV.UK. Company Tax Returns – Penalties for Late Filing
13
GOV.UK. SACM12155 – Overpayment Relief – Time Limits for Making a Claim