Finance (No. 2) Act 2023

251 Accounting periods

(1) The general rule is that reference to an accounting period in relation to a multinational group, or any member of that group, is to an accounting period for which the ultimate parent prepares its consolidated financial statements.

(2) Where the ultimate parent does not prepare consolidated financial statements, references to accounting periods are to the period of a year commencing on 1 January.

(3) But—

(a) where an accounting period (“the default period”) has started as a result of the rule in subsection (2), but the ultimate parent prepares consolidated financial statements during the default period for a period commencing with a date after the start of the default period, the default period is to end immediately before that date, and

(b) where the ultimate parent had previously prepared consolidated financial statements for accounting periods, the accounting period that follows the last period for which it had prepared consolidated financial statements begins immediately after that last period and ends immediately before 1 January in the following year.