Corporation Tax Act 2010 section 357KA

Northern Ireland company

Section 357KA defines when a company qualifies as a "Northern Ireland company" for the purposes of the Northern Ireland corporation tax rate, setting out three alternative conditions that can be met alongside carrying on a qualifying trade.

• A company is a "Northern Ireland company" in an accounting period if it carries on a qualifying trade and meets one of three conditions: the SME (Northern Ireland employer) condition, the SME (election) condition, or the large company condition.
• SMEs can qualify either by being a Northern Ireland employer, or — if they are not a Northern Ireland employer but have a Northern Ireland Regional Establishment (NIRE) and are not a disqualified close company — by making a formal election to HMRC within 12 months of the end of the relevant accounting period.
• Large companies (those that are not SMEs) qualify simply by having a NIRE during the accounting period.
• Key terms such as "qualifying trade", "SME", "Northern Ireland employer", "disqualified close company", and "NIRE" are each defined in other sections of Part 8B of the Act.