IN01
Incorporation
The company exists from the date on the certificate. Every other deadline is measured from that date, not from the day you started trading.
Once, at the start
Cost of missing it: None, but a rejected application costs you the date
Filings
Five forms, andwhat each one gives away.
A dossier on every filing a UK limited company owes in a normal year. What it is, who reads it, when it is due and what it costs to miss.
CS01
Confirmation statement
The review period ends 12 months after the confirmation statement date on your last statement, or 12 months after incorporation if this is your first one. Filing early starts a new review period.
Within 14 days of the end of each 12 month review period
Cost of missing it: Fine of up to 5,000 pounds and the company can be struck off
AA
Annual accounts
Companies House sets the accounting reference date as the last day of the month you were registered in, one year later. Your first accounts therefore cover more than twelve months.
21 months after registration for the first set, then 9 months after each financial year end
Cost of missing it: 150, 375, 750 or 1,500 pounds depending on how late, doubled if you are late two years running
CT600
Company Tax Return
An accounting period for Corporation Tax cannot be longer than 12 months, so a first set of accounts that covers more than a year needs two returns.
12 months after the end of the accounting period
Cost of missing it: Separate HMRC penalty regime, on top of the Companies House one
CT PAY
Corporation Tax payment
The money is due three months before the return that works out how much it was. Small companies pay first and file second.
9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period
Cost of missing it: Interest from the day after the deadline
What goes on the public record
The confirmation statement is not a form about your year. It is a form about what strangers can see.
Published and permanent
Registered office, the address where records are kept, directors and secretary, statement of capital and shareholders, SIC code, and people with significant control. Superseded versions stay on the register next to the current one.
Collected but not published
The registered email address. Companies House requires one and expects the company to read what arrives at it. It is not shown on the public register.
If you do not live here
A biometric passport from any country is accepted
Identity verification runs through GOV.UK One Login. A biometric passport issued anywhere works. You verify once, get a personal code, and every director needs their own.
VAT registration is not optional at 90,000 pounds for you
If you are based outside the UK, your business is based outside the UK and you supply goods or services to the UK, you must register for VAT regardless of turnover. The 90,000 pound threshold is for UK established businesses.
An accountant or solicitor can verify you instead
An Authorised Corporate Service Provider can verify your identity on your behalf. That is the route when the One Login app cannot read your documents from where you are.
Your email address goes on the confirmation statement, not on the public register
Companies House needs a working email and expects you to read what it sends. The address itself is not published.