Filing extension

What it means

The corporate tax return is due three months after the period ends. A notification filed by that date extends it by three months, or six where foreign income is involved.

The notification is a simple filing, not a request: the office does not approve it. But it must arrive on time and state the new deadline the company has chosen.

The extension covers only the income tax return. Deadlines for the VAT return, the VAT control statement or the annual payroll tax report do not move with it and stay on their original dates even when the income tax return has been deferred.

How it works in practice

The payment date moves with the return, which matters when cash flow is tight. What does not move is the duty to file the financial statements with the register on time.

The extension also affects advances: until the return is filed they follow the last known liability, and they are recalculated afterwards.

We file the notification for clients whose records are still incomplete with time to spare, not on the last day. It can be filed on a client’s behalf only under a power of attorney lodged with the tax office, so its validity is checked beforehand.

What to watch out for

A notification even one day late has no effect. The return is then filed late with all that follows: a penalty, interest and a worse reliability rating.

The new deadline is the one the company stated in the notification, not automatically the longest available. Write in a one-month extension and file two months later, and the filing deadline is missed just as if no notification had been filed; so a shorter period is not chosen without reason.