Annual accounts and the company tax return
A limited company files statutory accounts with Companies House within 9 months of its year end, and a CT600 company tax return with HMRC within 12 months. The corporation tax itself is due earlier still — 9 months and 1 day after the year end. Late accounts carry an automatic penalty from £150 to £1,500.
Every limited company files accounts once a year, and a tax return alongside them. Two recipients, three deadlines, and an automatic penalty regime with no appeal worth speaking of — which is why this is the work directors most often want off their desk.
What actually gets filed
Three documents, going to two places:
- Statutory accounts — balance sheet, profit and loss, and the notes required for your size of company.
- A version for the public register — small and micro-entity companies file a reduced set, which is why most small company records show a balance sheet and little else.
- The CT600 — the company tax return, filed to HMRC with the accounts and a tax computation attached.
The computation is the part nobody sees and everything depends on. Accounting profit is not taxable profit: entertaining is added back, depreciation comes out and capital allowances go in, and the difference between doing that carefully and doing it roughly is a real number on your tax bill.
The penalties
Companies House penalties for late accounts are automatic and charged by how late the filing is:
| How late | Private company |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 month | £150 |
| 1 to 3 months | £375 |
| 3 to 6 months | £750 |
| More than 6 months | £1,500 |
The penalty is doubled if the accounts are late two years in a row. HMRC charges separately for a late CT600, and interest runs on tax paid late from the day it was due — which, again, is 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period, not the filing date.
For a small company with records in reasonable order. Where the year needs reconstructing from bank statements we say so, and quote it, before starting.
What we need from you
- Bank statements for the whole period, business and any personal account used for the business.
- Sales invoices, or whatever record you keep of what came in.
- Costs — receipts, invoices, subscriptions. Photographs are fine.
- Payroll and dividend records, if you paid yourself or anyone else.
- Last year's accounts and tax return, if we did not prepare them.
- Anything unusual — a loan, an asset bought or sold, money moved between companies, a director's loan. Tell us early; these are the items that change the answer.
What we do not need is a bookkeeping system. Plenty of clients arrive with a folder of photographs and a bank feed, and that is a perfectly workable starting point.
Get the year closed properly
Send us the year end date and roughly what the company did. We will tell you what the filings are, when they fall, and what it costs — free, in writing, before anything starts.
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Free assessment first. If there is work to do, you get a fixed quote in writing before anything starts.
The four dates that make up a company year
They are derived from different things, which is exactly why they get missed:
- Accounts — 9 months after the end of the accounting period.
- Corporation tax payment — 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period. See the corporation tax calculator for the figure.
- CT600 — 12 months after the end of the accounting period.
- Confirmation statement — its own review date, set when the company was registered, unrelated to any of the above.
Clients on an ongoing arrangement do not track these; we do, and they hear from us before each one rather than from a penalty notice afterwards.
Questions people ask
What are statutory accounts?
The formal year-end accounts a limited company must prepare: a balance sheet, a profit and loss account, and the notes required for the size of company. A version goes to Companies House and a full set supports the tax return to HMRC.
Do small companies file everything publicly?
No. Small and micro-entity companies can file a reduced version, which is why so many company records on the register show a balance sheet and little else. Your full accounts still have to exist and still go to HMRC with the tax return — the reduction is about what the public sees.
What is the deadline?
9 months after the end of the accounting period for a private company. A first set covers a longer period and has its own deadline — tell us the incorporation date and we will tell you yours.
What happens if the accounts are late?
An automatic penalty, on a sliding scale: £150 at up to 1 month, £375 at 1 to 3 months, £750 at 3 to 6 months, £1,500 at more than 6 months. It is doubled if the accounts are late two years in a row — and unlike tax penalties, there is no reasonable-excuse route for most cases.
Is the CT600 the same thing?
No. Accounts go to Companies House; the CT600 company tax return goes to HMRC, with the accounts and a tax computation attached. Different recipients, different deadlines — and the corporation tax payment is due 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period, before the return itself.
My company is dormant. Do I still file?
Yes — dormant accounts, plus the confirmation statement. It is a short filing, but skipping it starts the same strike-off process as any other missed obligation.
Figures are for the tax year shown and change every April. They are general information, not advice — we check the current position for your circumstances before anything is filed.
Reviewed 19 October 2026.
Part of our work on company filings and deadlines — if you want someone to take it off your hands, start with our confirmation statement filing page.