1060Payment of tax creditU.K.
(1)This section applies if an R&D tax credit for an accounting period is payable to a company under this Chapter.
(2)The amount payable in respect of—
(a)the R&D tax credit, or
(b)interest on the credit payable under section 826 of ICTA,
may be applied in discharging any liability of the company to pay corporation tax.
(3)So far as the amount is so applied, the duty of the officer of Revenue and Customs to pay the credit under section 1054(4) is discharged.
(4)Subsection (5) applies if the company's tax return for the accounting period is enquired into by an officer of Revenue and Customs.
(5)In that case—
(a)no payment in respect of the R&D tax credit for the period need be made before the officer's enquiries are completed (see paragraph 32 of Schedule 18 to FA 1998), but
(b)the officer may make a payment on a provisional basis of such amount as the officer thinks fit.
(6)No payment need be made in respect of the R&D tax credit if the company has outstanding PAYE and NIC liabilities for the period.
(7)A company has outstanding PAYE and NIC liabilities for an accounting period if it has not paid to an officer of Revenue and Customs any amount that it is required to pay—
(a)under PAYE regulations, or
(b)in respect of Class 1 national insurance contributions,
for payment periods ending in the accounting period.