Limited companies and sole traders should find filing accounts easier after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Companies House announced they will accept online submissions in the same format, a tax official has claimed.

Gareth Jones, chief executive of Companies House, made the comments after the two organisations announced that they would adopt a common approach to the filing of tax to reduce the administrative burden on small-to-medium enterprises.

Companies House is to accept company accounts in the Inline XBRL, the format in which all submissions to HMRC must be made in from April 2011.

Gareth Jones, chief executive of Companies House, said: "This early statement of our intentions will reassure businesses that both HMRC and Companies House are working closely together to align our services to make the filing of accounts as easy as possible for UK companies." He added that his organisation will adopt the same software by the summer of 2010.

According to HMRC, businesses liable for corporation tax have to complete a company tax return for each accounting period.