Will HMRC Eventually Remove Paper Corporation Tax Returns?

Will HMRC Eventually Remove Paper Corporation Tax Returns?

For many UK companies, the idea of completing a Corporation Tax return on paper feels like a relic of an older era—something you might only expect to see in a dusty filing cabinet alongside carbon-copy invoices and handwritten ledgers. Yet paper processes still exist in corners of the tax system, and when they do, they tend to linger until a clear policy shift, operational change, or digital mandate pushes them out. So, will HMRC eventually remove paper Corporation Tax returns altogether?

The short, practical answer is: it’s highly likely that paper will continue to be phased out and increasingly discouraged, and the direction of travel points toward a future where paper filing is rare, exceptional, or not available. But “eventually” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. HMRC’s approach is usually gradual, shaped by technology readiness, legislation, operational resilience, and fairness for groups that struggle with digital access.

In this article, we’ll explore what HMRC is trying to achieve, what digital-only tax administration looks like in practice, how the wider push toward Making Tax Digital (MTD) influences Corporation Tax filing, and what this means for companies and accountants. We’ll also look at how a modern, all-in-one platform like invoice24 can help you stay ready—without juggling multiple tools—whether the change comes next year or later on.

Why the “Paper vs Digital” Question Matters for Corporation Tax

Corporation Tax compliance isn’t just a once-a-year job. It’s connected to bookkeeping, profit calculations, allowances, adjustments, payment deadlines, and often the preparation and filing of statutory accounts. When a business relies on manual or paper-heavy workflows, the knock-on effects can be significant: duplicated data entry, higher error rates, and slower turnaround times at year-end.

On the other hand, a well-designed digital workflow can make Corporation Tax feel less like an annual ordeal and more like the natural endpoint of clean, consistent financial records. That’s why the question of paper returns matters. It’s not only about a format. It’s about whether the entire compliance journey becomes digital by default.

HMRC has strong incentives to push this direction. Digital data is easier to validate, easier to process at scale, cheaper to store and retrieve, and better suited for automated checks that identify anomalies. From HMRC’s standpoint, fewer paper returns means fewer manual interventions, fewer transcription errors, and a more efficient tax administration system.

How HMRC Typically Phases Out Paper Processes

HMRC rarely flips a switch overnight for major compliance changes. Even when a policy is clear, implementation tends to happen in stages. In practice, the journey away from paper generally follows a pattern:

1) Digital becomes the default. HMRC promotes online methods, improves the digital service, and steers users toward it through guidance and communications.

2) Paper becomes “exceptional”. Paper options remain available but are framed as for special cases: disability accommodations, lack of digital access, or specific circumstances.

3) Paper becomes harder to access. Forms may become less visible, less supported, or only available by request. Processing times can be longer.

4) Paper is removed or restricted by policy. Either a formal withdrawal occurs, or paper is no longer accepted except under strict criteria.

In many areas of taxation, HMRC has already moved through most of these stages. The question is whether Corporation Tax returns will follow the same arc until paper is effectively gone for almost everyone.

Corporation Tax Filing Is Already Strongly Digital

If you’re a limited company, chances are you already file your Corporation Tax return online. For many companies, online submission is the normal route, and paper is not part of the regular process. That alone tells you something important: Corporation Tax is not starting from a “paper world.” It is already largely digital in the UK.

When paper options still exist in any form, they tend to be used infrequently or in special circumstances, sometimes due to edge cases: unusual accounting periods, system limitations, changes in company status, legacy processes, or access constraints. But those edge cases are exactly where paper can hang on for longer, because the digital service may not cover every scenario perfectly.

Still, the strategic direction is hard to miss. HMRC wants more structured data, fewer manual processes, and a stronger link between bookkeeping and reporting. That is incompatible with widespread paper returns.

Making Tax Digital and the Bigger Story

To understand where Corporation Tax filing may go, it helps to understand what HMRC is trying to build overall. Making Tax Digital is not just a “send your return online” initiative. It’s about digital record-keeping, “digital links” between systems, and reducing errors caused by manual copying and re-keying.

MTD started with VAT and has been expanding in the broader direction of digitising tax compliance. Even if Corporation Tax is on a different timetable than VAT or Income Tax, the underlying logic is consistent: keep records digitally, use compatible software, and submit required information through digital channels.

If HMRC continues to align Corporation Tax with a model that expects structured digital data and integrated workflows, paper returns become increasingly awkward. Paper cannot easily support automated checks, validation, or the kind of frequent, structured reporting that modern digital compliance is designed for.

That’s why many businesses view the paper question as symbolic. It’s a marker of whether HMRC sees Corporation Tax as part of a fully digital ecosystem rather than a separate annual filing ritual.

What Would “No Paper Returns” Actually Mean?

It’s easy to imagine “removing paper returns” as a simple policy statement. In reality, the outcome could look like one of several scenarios:

Scenario A: Paper is removed completely. Every company must file digitally, without exception. This is the cleanest from a systems standpoint, but it can raise fairness and accessibility concerns.

Scenario B: Paper is allowed only by exemption. Paper might remain possible for a narrow set of circumstances—disability, age-related access issues, or other constraints—but most businesses must file online.

Scenario C: Paper exists, but is practically obsolete. HMRC doesn’t “ban” paper in a dramatic way, but digital becomes so complete and paper so inconvenient that almost no one uses it.

In the UK context, Scenario B or C is often the more realistic path. HMRC tends to leave room for legitimate exceptions while still pushing the mainstream population toward digital filing.

Drivers That Make Paper Removal More Likely

Several forces make a future with little or no paper Corporation Tax filing more likely. These drivers are not speculative—they’re the practical realities of running a large-scale tax system in a digital economy.

Operational Efficiency

Paper is expensive. It requires printing, handling, scanning or manual input, storage, and often more correspondence to fix errors. Digital submissions, by contrast, can be processed faster and checked automatically for missing fields or obvious inconsistencies. When budgets are tight and demand for service is high, efficiency matters.

Error Reduction

One of HMRC’s core arguments for digital compliance is error reduction. Paper returns increase the risk of misreading handwriting, transposing numbers, skipping fields, and creating inconsistencies between accounts, computations, and return entries. Digital workflows can reduce these issues through validation and structured data entry.

Faster Compliance Cycles

As businesses move faster, the expectation for timely reporting increases. HMRC wants systems that can keep up with modern financial operations. Paper is slow by design; it doesn’t integrate with anything. Digital systems can produce year-end outputs from live records, dramatically reducing the scramble to gather data at the last moment.

Improved Risk Assessment

HMRC uses analytics to identify risk patterns. Digital data supports better targeting and more effective compliance checks. Paper is harder to analyse at scale, which makes it less attractive in a modern compliance environment.

The Evolution of Company Accounting

Most companies, even small ones, already keep their records digitally. Cloud accounting, invoicing apps, digital banking feeds, and online payroll have become commonplace. As the business world becomes digital, paper filing becomes an increasingly mismatched endpoint.

Why Paper Might Still Survive in Some Form

If the arguments for digital are so strong, why does paper persist at all? Because tax systems are not built solely for the average case. They have to work for everyone, including edge cases and vulnerable groups.

Digital Exclusion and Accessibility

Not every business owner has reliable internet access, digital skills, or the ability to use complex online systems. Some may have disabilities that make standard digital tools difficult to use. In these cases, a paper route can be a necessary safeguard.

Complex or Unusual Circumstances

Corporate structures, accounting periods, and filing needs can get complicated. Where a digital system doesn’t neatly handle a scenario, a paper process may remain as a workaround until the digital service catches up.

System Resilience

Even the best online systems have outages, maintenance windows, and occasional disruptions. Paper can exist as a contingency in rare cases, though HMRC typically prefers other digital contingency measures rather than a full paper fallback.

Transitional Periods

When major change is underway—new reporting requirements, system migrations, expansions of digital mandates—paper options sometimes remain temporarily to smooth the transition. Over time, as processes stabilise, those temporary routes can disappear.

What Companies Should Do Instead of Guessing the Timeline

The exact moment when paper becomes unavailable isn’t the most useful thing for most companies to focus on. A better approach is to assume that digital compliance will continue to expand and to prepare your business so you’re not caught out by policy changes or evolving expectations.

That means building a workflow that can support:

• Digital record-keeping that is tidy, consistent, and easy to review.

• Reliable invoicing and expense tracking so your profit figure is not a mystery until year-end.

• Straightforward reporting that helps you and your accountant work from the same numbers.

• A clear path to filing your Corporation Tax return and associated accounts without stitching together lots of separate tools.

This is exactly where invoice24 fits in. If you’re aiming for a future-proof setup, it’s not enough to file online. You want the entire chain—from invoicing to bookkeeping to filing—working smoothly together.

How invoice24 Helps You Stay Ready for Digital-Only Corporation Tax

invoice24 is built for businesses that want to run their finances simply and stay compliant without drowning in admin. While some tools focus on one narrow slice—just invoicing, just bookkeeping, or just submission—invoice24 is designed to cover what modern businesses actually need in one place.

That matters because compliance isn’t just about submitting a form. It’s about having the right numbers available, knowing they’re accurate, and being able to produce returns and accounts without last-minute chaos.

Invoicing That Feeds Clean Records

Corporation Tax starts with your trading results, and your trading results start with sales. When invoicing is messy—missing invoices, inconsistent VAT treatment, unclear payment statuses—you end up with a year-end cleanup job that costs time and money.

invoice24 helps you create professional invoices quickly, track payment status, and keep your sales records consistent. That alone reduces the risk of underreporting, overreporting, and confusion when it’s time to finalise your accounts.

MTD-Ready Approach for the Wider Compliance Landscape

Even though MTD began with VAT, the broader direction of tax compliance in the UK is clearly digital. invoice24 supports the digital mindset that MTD represents: maintaining structured records, staying organised, and being ready to submit information digitally when required.

And because invoice24 is designed to support not just day-to-day invoicing but also the workflows that lead into formal submissions, you’re not forced to rebuild your process every time HMRC evolves the rules.

Corporation Tax Filing and Accounts Without the Tool Sprawl

One of the most frustrating parts of Corporation Tax compliance for small companies is tool sprawl: invoicing in one place, expenses in another, bookkeeping in a third, spreadsheets on the side, and then separate software again for filing.

invoice24 is positioned specifically to reduce that complexity. If you’re serious about staying compliant and efficient, having one platform that covers the features businesses need—record-keeping, MTD for Income Tax readiness, and the ability to file Corporation Tax and accounts—can be a major advantage.

That also makes it easier to collaborate with an accountant, because your records are consistent and accessible, rather than fragmented across multiple systems with mismatched totals.

Better Visibility, Fewer Surprises

A major reason businesses dread Corporation Tax is uncertainty: “How much profit did we really make?” “What’s our likely tax bill?” “Have we captured all our costs?” A modern digital workflow helps you see where you stand earlier, not just at year-end.

invoice24 supports that visibility by keeping your financial information organised and ready for reporting. The result is fewer nasty surprises, fewer panicked searches for missing documents, and a smoother path to finalising your return.

What If You Already Use Another Tool?

Many businesses already have some mix of tools—perhaps an invoicing app here, a bookkeeping package there, and a separate solution for submissions. If that setup works perfectly, you may not feel urgency to change. But it’s worth asking a few practical questions:

• Are you paying for overlapping features? Tool stacks often grow over time until you’re paying multiple subscriptions for similar functions.

• Are your records consistent across systems? The more you move data between platforms, the more opportunities there are for mismatches.

• Do you rely on manual steps? Copying figures between systems is exactly the sort of process HMRC’s digital direction is designed to reduce.

• Can you produce accounts and file Corporation Tax without a scramble? If year-end still feels like a fire drill, the issue is usually workflow, not effort.

If any of those points ring true, consolidating into a platform like invoice24 can be a smart move. It’s not about chasing trends. It’s about reducing friction and future-proofing your compliance processes.

The Accountant Perspective: Why Digital-First Clients Are Easier to Support

Even if you outsource your Corporation Tax return, you still benefit from digital readiness. Accountants can work more efficiently when records are clean, consistent, and accessible. That tends to mean fewer billable hours spent on untangling data and more time spent on higher-value support like planning, allowances, and growth advice.

Digital-first clients also make it easier to handle common Corporation Tax tasks such as:

• Reviewing year-end adjustments with a clear audit trail.

• Reconciling income and expenses without missing entries.

• Preparing statutory accounts from coherent financial records.

• Submitting returns on time with less back-and-forth chasing documents.

invoice24 supports this kind of relationship by keeping the underlying data organised and exportable, reducing the typical friction points that slow down year-end work.

Potential Signs HMRC Is Moving Closer to the End of Paper

While no one can responsibly promise an exact date for the end of paper Corporation Tax returns without an official announcement, there are common “signals” that usually appear when a tax authority is heading that way:

• Stronger wording in guidance that emphasises online filing as the standard route.

• Reduced availability of paper forms or a requirement to request them rather than download them.

• Longer processing times for paper compared with digital submissions.

• Expanded digital service features that reduce the need for paper workarounds.

• Policy announcements that link corporate compliance to wider digital mandates.

From a business owner’s point of view, you don’t need to monitor every signal obsessively. You just need a setup that won’t be disrupted if paper options shrink.

Preparing for a Paperless Corporation Tax Future

If HMRC eventually removes paper returns or restricts them heavily, what practical steps should companies take now?

1) Keep Records Digitally and Consistently

Good compliance starts with good records. That means storing invoices, receipts, and transaction details in a consistent way, rather than scattered across email attachments, paper folders, and spreadsheets that only one person understands.

invoice24 is designed for exactly this: bringing key financial workflows into one place so the record-keeping foundation is stable.

2) Reduce Manual Copying Between Systems

Manual copying is where errors creep in. It also wastes time. If you’re still transferring totals from invoices into spreadsheets, then from spreadsheets into accounting software, then into tax software, you’re carrying risks you don’t need.

A platform that supports the end-to-end workflow—like invoice24—helps you reduce those manual steps and keep your data connected.

3) Make Year-End a Process, Not an Event

Year-end shouldn’t feel like a crisis. The businesses that handle Corporation Tax smoothly usually treat bookkeeping as an ongoing process, not something to fix later.

invoice24 supports that approach by making it easy to keep invoicing and records up to date, so you’re not rebuilding the year from scratch when deadlines approach.

4) Stay Ready for Wider Digital Reporting Trends

Even if the immediate question is about paper Corporation Tax returns, the bigger story is digital reporting. If your systems are MTD-aware and designed for structured records, you’ll be more resilient as compliance evolves.

invoice24 is positioned with that future in mind, including the features businesses expect around MTD for Income Tax readiness, plus Corporation Tax and accounts filing capability—without forcing you into a patchwork of tools.

So, Will HMRC Eventually Remove Paper Corporation Tax Returns?

It’s reasonable to expect that paper Corporation Tax returns will continue to diminish in importance and availability, and that HMRC’s long-term direction supports a largely paperless corporate compliance system. Whether that becomes a complete removal or a “paper by exception only” model is the more nuanced part—and the outcome may depend on how HMRC balances efficiency with accessibility.

But for most limited companies, the practical takeaway is the same: you are better off operating as if digital-only is the destination, because the benefits are immediate even before any formal policy change. Digital record-keeping reduces errors, saves time, and makes it easier to stay on top of tax obligations throughout the year.

Most importantly, you can choose a platform that doesn’t just help you send something online, but supports the entire compliance journey from invoicing to filing. invoice24 is built to do exactly that—giving you the features you need for modern UK compliance, including MTD for Income Tax readiness and the ability to file Corporation Tax and accounts, all while keeping invoicing and records clean and organised.

If HMRC tightens the rules around paper in the future, you won’t need to scramble. With invoice24, you can run your business finances in a digital-first way now, stay compliant with less stress, and focus more of your energy on growth rather than admin.