Get tax help to support your growing mid-sized business
Check if your business can get help from the Growth Support Service, and how to apply.
Businesses with a UK turnover above £10 million or at least 20 employees can get help from HMRC during periods of growth.
You can apply for help from a dedicated tax specialist at HMRC to:
- understand new tax issues and reporting requirements
- get your tax right before you file your return
- resolve your tax issues
- access any financial tax incentives and reliefs you may be eligible for
- consider reporting and governance risks caused by the growth of your business
- access other HMRC specialists, services and guidance that are relevant to your business
- remain tax compliant
Your tax specialist will not be able to give you advice on business growth, tax planning or avoidance.
Who can use this service
You can apply for help if your business is experiencing growth and has either:
- a UK turnover above £10 million
- at least 20 employees
You cannot use this service if your business, or a group of which it’s a member, works with HMRC large business.
When to apply
You can apply to get help when your business has or is about to:
- increase its turnover by 20% or more in the last 12 months (the increase should be above £1 million)
- grow through mergers and acquisitions
- reorganise as part of a group for the purposes of business growth (excluding insolvency)
- list shares on the stock market
- introduce capital which increases the balance sheet total by more than 20% (the amount introduced must be at least £1 million)
- notify HMRC of the Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) and submitting an SAO certificate for the first time
- pay corporation tax in instalments for the first time
- pay VAT payments on account for the first time
- export goods or services from the UK for the first time
- set up a business operation in a new country
- grow significantly in another way (your request will be considered on an individual basis)
How to apply
You or the business’s authorised agent will need:
- a Government Gateway user ID and password - if you do not have one, you can create one when you apply
- details of the business’s annual turnover and number of employees
- your contact details or those of a representative
- the business’s unique taxpayer reference (known as a ‘UTR’) or VAT registration number
- the business’s contact details - including name and correspondence address
- details of the type of growth the business needs help with and any related tax issues
If you want to provide documents to support your application, they’ll each need to be 5MB or less and in a commonly used format, like PDF, JPEG or DOCX.
Apply
What happens next
You’ll get a reference number when you submit your request.
We’ll contact you or the business’s representative within 15 working days to discuss the application and agree the support we can offer.
Other tax support
If you are not experiencing the types of growth listed above, you can get help with specific, complex tax issues from the Customer Engagement Team for mid-sized businesses.