Corporation Tax Act 2010 section 357WA

Meaning of "Northern Ireland firm"

Section 357WA defines what makes a partnership a "Northern Ireland firm" for the purposes of the Northern Ireland corporation tax rate, setting out three alternative routes by which a firm can qualify depending on its size and employment profile.

• A firm is a "Northern Ireland firm" in an accounting period if it carries on a qualifying partnership trade and meets one of three conditions: the SME (Northern Ireland employer) partnership condition, the SME (election) partnership condition, or the large partnership condition.
• Small and medium-sized firms can qualify either by being a Northern Ireland employer meeting the workforce partnership conditions, or — if they are not a Northern Ireland employer — by having a Northern Ireland regional establishment, not being disqualified, and making a formal election within 12 months of the end of the relevant accounting period.
• Large firms (those that are not SMEs) qualify simply by having a Northern Ireland regional establishment in the accounting period.
• When applying the definitions of "SME", "Northern Ireland employer", "Northern Ireland regional establishment" and "externally provided worker" to a firm, references to a company are read as references to the firm, and the Northern Ireland workforce conditions are read as the Northern Ireland workforce partnership conditions.