Corporate tax services is a heading covering three quite different products sold at three quite different prices, and firms rarely say which one a quote is for. Separating them is the first thing to do when comparing, because a fee for annual compliance and a fee for a reliefs review are not competing offers even when they arrive on the same headed paper.
Compliance
The annual cycle: computation, CT600, filing with HMRC and Companies House where the same firm does the accounts, and the payment advice. Priced on the size and cleanliness of the records, largely predictable year to year, and the tier most small companies think of when they say corporate tax. It does not by itself include looking for reliefs the company has not asked about.
Advisory
Answering questions before the figures exist: the capital and revenue split on a refurbishment, whether a transaction produces a chargeable gain, whether the associated companies count is right, how to structure a group. Priced on time or as a fixed fee for a defined opinion. Bought occasionally rather than annually, and usually triggered by a transaction.
Reliefs work
R&D relief, capital allowances on property, patent box. Usually bought from a specialist rather than from the compliance firm, and usually priced as a share of what is recovered. This is the only tier where anything is published: three of the ten UK firms in this site's record print a percentage of the benefit with a minimum, and the rest, including every capital allowances firm read, print nothing.
Questions people ask about corporate tax services
What do corporate tax services include?
Depends on the tier. Compliance is the annual computation and CT600. Advisory answers questions on a company's own facts. Reliefs work such as R&D and capital allowances is normally a separate engagement, often with a specialist.
Is a reliefs review included in an annual fee?
Often not. A company that has never been asked about its plant, its development work or its loss usage is probably buying compliance only, whatever the engagement letter is titled.
Which tier does a small company need?
Compliance every year. Advisory when a transaction arises. Reliefs work when there is a building or genuine development spending, which is where the fees are large enough to be worth comparing.