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Obligation to withhold income tax from certain payments

When companies make certain payments to specified types of recipient, they are required to deduct income tax at source and pay it to HMRC. In doing so, they act as a collector of tax. The liability to the tax is borne by the recipient of the related income who should usually be able to claim relief for the tax suffered at source.

The main instances where companies may have to deduct income tax at source are:

1. •

   payments of interest which are not to companies

2. •

   payments of interest overseas

3. •

   payments of interest to partnerships (unless all the partners / members are companies), and

4. •

   royalty payments

ITA 2007, ss 874, 946

Tax is deducted at the rate of 20% in respect of interest and royalties.

A common example of the payment of interest by a company to an individual, is where a director has made a loan to a company. A commercial rate of interest may be paid by the company on the director’s loan