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A common approach to filing company accounts online has been announced in a joint statement by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Companies House.

In order to reduce potential administrative burdens on business, Companies House has announced that it will accept company accounts in a data format known as Inline XBRL (iXBRL). This is the same format in which all Company Tax Returns (CTRs) – including the return form, company accounts and tax computations – must be submitted online to HMRC from April 2011 (for accounting periods ending after 31 March 2010).

Companies House will introduce their iXBRL service for unaudited full accounts by the summer of 2010, and then continue to develop their iXBRL capability for all the main types of accounts they receive. HMRC’s new iXBRL service for CTRs will be available from November 2009. Commercial software that is iXBRL-enabled will be widely available in Spring 2010.

Mark Holden, Programme Director of HMRC’s Carter Programme, which is responsible for enhancing HMRC’s online services, said:

“Today’s joint statement is an important step towards our goal of offering a joint filing facility for company accounts and Company Tax Returns, as recommended by Lord Carter’s Review of HMRC’s Online Services.”

Gareth Jones, Chief Executive of Companies House, added:

“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.”