Annual compliance

Every active UK Ltd is bound by at least three main annual obligations. First: the Confirmation Statement (form CS01) — an annual statement in which you confirm the company's registered details with Companies House, due on the company's incorporation anniversary each year.

Second: the Annual Accounts — a financial report submitted to Companies House within 9 months of the end of the financial year. Third: the Corporation Tax Return — filed with HMRC within 12 months of the end of the financial year. If your company is VAT-registered, there are additional quarterly returns.

If you have employees, monthly PAYE returns are filed. Eteform sends you reminders of all these deadlines by email and WhatsApp, and we can file the CS01 on your behalf for a nominal fee. Neglecting these obligations exposes your company to penalties starting from £150 and up to being struck off the register.

The Confirmation Statement (formerly the Annual Return) is an annual statement you file with Companies House via form CS01 to confirm that your company's registered details are still correct — or to update them if they have changed.

It covers: the company name, the registered office, director and shareholder details, and the type of shares. The deadline is on your company's incorporation anniversary each year — so if your company was formed on 15 March 2025, the first deadline is 15 March 2026.

You have 14 days from that date to file the CS01, and the current fee is £34 if filed online. If you do not file the CS01 on time, Companies House begins strike-off proceedings and you may be fined £5,000 or more.

At Eteform we offer a CS01 filing service on your behalf — we review your details and confirm they are accurate before submitting.

The Annual Accounts must be filed with Companies House within 9 months of the end of the company's financial year. If your company's financial year ends on 31 March (the most common), the deadline is 31 December of the same year.

The first annual accounts after formation may cover a longer period — up to 18 months — because Companies House gives you extra time in the first year. The accounts include: the Balance Sheet, the Profit & Loss statement, and the Director's Report. Very small companies (micro-entities) can file a simplified version.

Late filing exposes you to a penalty starting from £150 and doubling each month up to £1,500. If your company is dormant, you file simplified Dormant Accounts instead of full accounts.

Late-filing penalties in the UK are strict and escalating, and Companies House and HMRC apply them automatically without prior warning. For the Confirmation Statement (CS01): if you are more than two months late, Companies House begins compulsory strike-off proceedings and you may be fined £5,000.

For the annual accounts: the penalty starts from £150 if you are one month late, then £375 after 3 months, then £750 after 6 months, reaching £1,500 after more than 6 months. For the Corporation Tax Return: HMRC imposes £100 immediately, then a further £100 after 3 months, then 10% of the tax due after 6 months.

If you are more than a year late, HMRC may make an estimated assessment for an amount higher than you actually owe. The good news: Eteform sends multiple reminders before each deadline, and we can file most of the paperwork on your behalf to avoid these penalties entirely.

Yes, even a dormant company — one that has not carried out any trading transactions since formation — is required to file annual documents with Companies House, but in a simplified and cheaper form. You must file a Confirmation Statement (CS01) annually at the same deadline and fee (£34).

Instead of full accounts, you file Dormant Accounts — a simplified form confirming that the company has carried out no activity. You do not need to file a Corporation Tax Return with HMRC if it is genuinely dormant, but you must inform HMRC that the company is dormant.

Many Eteform clients form a company and leave it dormant until they actually start operating — and this is a completely legitimate option.

The important thing is not to forget the annual filings even if you earn nothing, because Companies House makes no distinction between an active and a dormant company in terms of the filing obligation. We provide a Dormant Accounts service on your behalf for a nominal fee.

For the basic annual filings (CS01 and Dormant Accounts), Eteform handles them directly — we review your details and file the documents with Companies House on your behalf.

For full annual accounts and Corporation Tax Returns, we refer you to qualified British chartered accountants who specialise in small companies and international clients. These accountants understand the non-resident director's position and deal with HMRC on your behalf.

The cost of annual accounting for small companies usually ranges between £300 and £800 depending on the volume of activity. Some of our clients use software such as FreeAgent or Xero to manage their day-to-day accounts, then pass the data to the accountant at year-end.

If you are looking for an accountant who speaks Arabic and understands the local context of your country of residence, ask us — we have a network of partners in Egypt, the Gulf and Britain.

Do not try to file the accounts yourself if you have no experience — accounting mistakes can cost you far more than the accountant's fee.