Annual filings – what your company needs to file

UK limited companies are legally required to undertake a range of annual filings, the main ones being the confirmation statement, annual accounts, and a Company Tax Return. Failing to meet these obligations can have potentially serious consequences, so it is vital that you’re aware of your company’s filing requirements and deadlines.

Confirmation statements

All UK companies, including dormant and non-trading companies, are legally required to submit a confirmation statement to Companies House each year.

Previously known as an annual return, the confirmation statement verifies the registered details of a company, ensuring that Companies House has accurate and up-to-date information. The data that this form specifically confirms includes the following:

• Registered office address
• Details of directors and the company secretary
• Existing members (shareholders/guarantors)
• People with significant control (PSCs)
• Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes
• Statement of Capital
• Trading status of shares
• Registered email address

Companies must also confirm on every confirmation statement that their intended future activities are lawful. This is known as ‘making a lawful purpose statement’. 

When is a confirmation statement due?

Companies must file at least one confirmation statement every 12-month period, known as a ‘review period’. This annual review period begins on either:

• The date of company incorporation 
• The date the company filed its previous confirmation statement

Confirmation statements must be filed at least 14 days following the end of each relevant review period. However, companies can file earlier if they want. Submitting a confirmation statement early will automatically reset the 12-month review period.

Example A

• You incorporate a limited company on 1 April 2025. 
• The review period begins on 1 April 2025 and ends on 31 March 2026. 
• The company must file its confirmation statement by 14 April 2026 at the latest.

Example B

• You incorporate a company on 1 April 2025. 
• The review period begins on 1 April 2025 and ends on 31 March 2026. 
• However, the company submits an early confirmation statement on 4 January 2026. This triggers the start of a new review period, which will run from 4 January 2026 to 3 January 2027. 
• The company must file its next confirmation statement by 17 January 2027 at the latest.

The confirmation statement vs the old annual return

The confirmation statement was introduced on 30 June 2016. Before that date, a similar annual filing requirement existed, but it was instead called an ‘annual return’.

While the purpose of both the confirmation statement and annual return is broadly the same (i.e. to ensure registered company details are up to date on the public register), there are notable differences.

The annual return provided a snapshot of a company at a specific date, and you had to enter the company’s registered details on the form. 

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You don’t need to do this with the confirmation statement. Instead, the company officers simply ‘check and confirm’ that the information held by Companies House is accurate and up to date. 

If anything is incorrect or out of date, the officers must provide the new information on the confirmation statement (certain details only) or notify Companies House separately on the relevant form(s).

Do dormant companies need to file a confirmation statement?

Dormant companies, including those dormant for Corporation Tax and dormant according to Companies House, are still required to submit an annual confirmation statement. 

How to file a confirmation statement

1. Check the details that Companies House currently holds on your company. A summary of these details is available online on the Companies House register.
2. If you need to update the registered office address, registered email address, or details of directors, the company secretary, or people with significant control (PSCs), you must notify Companies House on separate forms before or at the same time as filing the confirmation statement.
3. Complete the confirmation statement online or on paper. If you need to update the company’s SIC codes, statement of capital, trading status of shares, or shareholder information, you can report these changes on the statement itself. 
4. Pay the annual fee – £34.00 if you file online, or £62.00 if you file on paper. The payment covers each 12-month ‘payment period’, which begins on the date you make the payment. This may or may not be the same as the review period. You can file as many confirmation statements as you like within the payment period for no additional charge.

Even if nothing changes during a 12-month review period, you still need to file a confirmation statement. 

Our Confirmation Statement Service 

Quality Company Formations provides a confirmation statement filing service, ensuring your company files on time and stays compliant. Existing customers can purchase this service by logging in to our Online Company Manager and visiting the ‘Shop’, and it is also available to any company on our Confirmation Statement Service page.

Annual accounts

What are annual accounts?

Annual accounts provide a general overview of a company’s financial activity and position during its previous financial year. Company directors must prepare annual accounts for each financial year, which will generally include:

• Profit and loss account (income statement)
• Balance sheet
• Any additional notes about the accounts

Annual accounts should also include a directors’ report and an auditor’s report unless the company qualifies for audit exemption.

A company must file its accounts with Companies House and also submit full (statutory) accounts to HMRC as part of the Company Tax Return. Copies of accounts should be provided to all members (shareholders) and anyone else with the right to attend the company’s general meetings.

When are annual accounts due?

The deadline for filing a company’s first set of annual accounts is 21 months after its incorporation date, or 18 months after incorporation if it’s a public company. 

Subsequent accounts must be filed within 9 months of the company’s accounting reference date (ARD), or within 6 months of the ARD if it’s a public company. 

The ARD is the last day of a company’s financial year. It’s the date that the accounts must be made up to. For new companies, the first ARD is always the last day of the month of the anniversary of incorporation. The ARD will remain the same each year unless the company changes it by shortening or extending its financial year. 

With regards filing deadlines for annual accounts, a month is considered to begin and end on the same date. Therefore, when a company’s ARD falls on the last day of the month, the filing period ends on the last day of the relevant month.

Example

• You incorporate a new company on 25 April 2025. 
• The company’s ARD is 30 April 2026. 
• You have until midnight on 25 January 2027 to submit your first set of accounts. This is 21 months after the date of incorporation.
• Your next annual accounts must be filed by midnight on 31 January 2028 (the last day of that month, rather than 30 January). This is 9 months after the company’s ARD. 

How do I file annual accounts?

You can file your annual accounts with Companies House online or by post. There is no legal requirement to use an accountant, but it is generally recommended. Preparing company accounts can be complex unless you have experience in this area. 

Do I have to file annual accounts if my company is dormant?

Even if your company is dormant, you still need to submit annual accounts to Companies House.  However, provided that the dormant company has not had any ‘significant transactions’ during its financial year, you can file dormant company accounts. These are much simpler than the accounts required by active companies. 

Our Dormant Company Accounts Service

Quality Company Formations offers a Dormant Company Accounts Service for £49.99 plus VAT, ensuring your accounts are filed in just one working day. 

If you’re an existing customer, you can log in to your online client account on our website and purchase the service in the Shop area. 

New customers can purchase the service by visiting our Dormant Company Accounts Service page or calling our Company Secretarial Team on +44 (0)203 984 5389.

Corporation Tax and the Company Tax Return

All companies must pay Corporation Tax on the profits they make. This includes profit from doing business, investments, or selling assets. You won’t receive a bill for Corporation Tax from HMRC. Instead, you must:

• Add Corporation Tax services to your business tax account when you start to do business.
• Complete a Company Tax Return to work out your profit or loss for Corporation Tax and how much you need to pay.
• Pay any Corporation Tax you owe or tell HMRC that no tax is due.

You can file your Company Tax Return (form CT600) online using the Government Gateway service. Under certain circumstances, it is possible to make this annual filing on paper.

Deadlines for filing a Company Tax Return and paying Corporation Tax

The deadline for paying Corporation Tax is normally 9 months and 1 day after the end of the company’s accounting period for Corporation Tax. The accounting period is usually the same as the 12-month financial year covered by your annual accounts, but sometimes they are different. 

The deadline for filing a Company Tax Return is normally 12 months after the end of the Corporation Tax accounting period.

Dormant companies don’t need to file tax returns after telling HMRC they are dormant, unless they receive a ‘notice to deliver a Company Tax Return’. 

Consequences of missing your company’s annual filing deadlines

Failing to file a confirmation statement is a criminal offence for which directors are liable to prosecution in the criminal courts. Furthermore, the company’s credit rating may be affected, and it could be struck off the Companies House register for non-compliance.

If you don’t file your annual accounts on time, the following late filing penalties will apply:

Time after deadline	Private company or LLP	Public company
No more than 1 month	£150	£750
More than 1 month but not more than 3 months	£375	£1,500
More than 3 months but not more than 6 months	£750	£3,000
More than 6 months	£1,500	£7,500

The penalties will automatically double if your accounts are late for two consecutive years. Directors are also liable to disqualification or criminal prosecution if the accounts are repeatedly late or not delivered at all.

Additionally, HMRC imposes penalties for late filing of a Company Tax Return and paying Corporation Tax late. An automatic penalty of £100 applies from day one after the filing deadline, increasing to 10% of any outstanding tax after 6 months, and a further 10% of unpaid tax after 12 months.

If you fail to pay your Corporation Tax bill on time, HMRC will charge your company, starting the day after the payment deadline. The current interest rate for late Corporation Tax late payment interest rate is 8.25% as of May 2025.

Thanks for reading 

We hope this blog post has clarified the important annual filings that UK companies must fulfil for Companies House and HMRC.

If you’re a company director and need help with compliance and statutory filing obligations, our Full Company Secretary Service is the ideal solution. It includes the preparation and filing of an annual confirmation statement, up to 15 changes to your company per year (e.g. share transfers or director appointments and resignations), and preparation and maintenance of all five statutory company registers.