How to add director’s loans and section 455 tax to your Corporation Tax return
Short version. You can add prepared unpaid director’s loan amounts to your existing return in SimpleCompanyTax. We calculate section 455 tax, generate CT600A and file it electronically with the CT600. You can preview the form and tax computation before paying. This guide covers unpaid loans without repayment relief.
For the tax rules, rates and worked examples, read director’s loan not repaid within nine months: section 455 and CT600A explained.
1. Open Financial Data
Complete step 1, Company Profile & Period, using the company and accounting period details for the return. In step 2, Financial Data, enter your usual accounts figures and find Director’s loans and section 455 tax.
This section is part of the existing trading, property and mixed-company flows, including active companies with no taxable profit. There is no separate CT600A journey.
2. Add loans for the return
Open Director’s loans and section 455 tax, then choose + Loans for [dates], where the button shows the return’s actual dates. Use your prepared unpaid amounts belonging to those dates. The closing director’s loan account balance may include loans from earlier returns.
If a long accounts period needs two CT600 returns, enter a separate set against each return’s displayed dates. Loan amounts are not split by days.
3. Enter the borrower figures
- Loans repaid, released or written off before the period end (A5) starts at No. Change it if applicable. The help icon links HMRC’s full conditions, including the rules for return payments. This answer does not calculate repayment relief.
- Name of participator or associate: enter the borrower’s name.
- Amount of loan/benefit: enter your prepared unpaid amount for that borrower and return in whole pounds. The tax calculation keeps pence.
- Choose + Add another borrower for each additional borrower.
You supply the prepared figures. This step does not ask you to upload loan evidence or reconstruct a transaction history. See HMRC’s CT600A instructions for what the figures represent.
4. Check the total and calculated tax
You can enter Total loans outstanding, including earlier periods (A75, optional) if reporting that figure. It is separate from the current return’s loan total and does not calculate its charge.
The summary shows the loan total, section 455 tax and Rate applied by HMRC’s online service for this return. The rate is read-only. We total the entered amounts, apply the online-service rate and round the tax once to pence.
If the section no longer applies, choose Remove loans for this return.
5. Save and review the filing
Use Save Progress to keep a draft in this browser if you need to pause. To continue, choose Next to reach step 3, Review & Submit, then choose Review Filing.
On the review page, check ordinary Corporation Tax, section 455 tax and their combined total. The section 455 charge is included in the return and tax computation, with the CT600A tax carried into CT600 box 480. If tax has already been paid, use the existing tax already paid fields to show the balance still outstanding.
6. Preview CT600A before paying
Choose Preview your documents (free). Complete the draft details shown in Prepare your draft preview, then choose Generate draft preview →.
On the results page, open CT600A loans to participators in the document list. Its PDF is named HMRC CT600A.pdf. For two returns, each relevant PDF has its return number in the filename. Check the borrower rows and tax, and open the tax computation to see the combined charge.
The free draft PDFs are watermarked. The CT600A includes a continuation page when needed. Generating the preview does not submit the return.
7. Subscribe and submit when ready
CT600A is included in the micro-entity annual subscription at £25 / year, with no supplementary-page fee. The same company’s supported filings and amendments are included while its subscription is active, including an amended CT600 where the original was filed elsewhere.
If you do not have an active subscription, use Subscribe to submit filings on the review page. Once subscribed, use Continue to submission for an original filing, complete the existing filing details and declaration, and submit. For an amendment, use the existing amendment controls and applicable filing targets. CT600A goes electronically to HMRC with its CT600.
After processing, open the filing and find CT600A loans to participators under Generated artefacts. For a long period, the relevant downloads are named HMRC CT600A (Return 1).pdf and HMRC CT600A (Return 2).pdf.
Read what the annual subscription includes for the company coverage and renewal terms.
What are the current limits?
- Dormant companies: the dormant route has no CT600A section.
- Repayment relief: this release supports unpaid loans without relief. It also excludes historical return periods spanning the 2016 or 2022 loan-rate changes. Use software supporting those treatments if your return needs them.
- Loans from 6 April 2026: the statutory rate is 35.75%, while the current online format still calculates at 33.75%. For a return ending on or after that date, the displayed notice explains that affected loans require an amendment after HMRC’s planned 6 April 2027 update, with further tax potentially due. Read HMRC’s online-service notice.
- Statutory accounts: CT600A does not create the separate director’s advances, credits and guarantees note. Our accounts generator does not currently offer an editor for that note. Check the company’s accounts disclosure requirements separately.
This is general filing guidance, not tax or accounting advice.