Responsibilities of senior financial officers

The 2009 Budget has introduced a new requirement for senior financial officers

Senior financial officers of large companies will need to provide a certificate to HMRC that states that the records of the company are good enough to provide accurate data for preparing all tax returns that the company is required to submit. If not, the senior financial officer needs to submit an alternative certificate which details the weaknesses in the company's systems.

The rules will apply to accounting periods that begin after the Finance Bill becomes law (which is likely to be in late July). We still await final guidance from HMRC on the application of the rules. These will only affect large companies, but it would be a useful exercise for other companies to review company systems in order to reduce compliance risks.

For advice as to how best to go about this, contact your usual Littlejohn tax adviser or email tax@littlejohnllp.com