Late filing penalty Companies House: the ladder, the doubling rule, and the deadline behind it

Companies House charges an automatic penalty for accounts filed after the deadline. For a private company it runs from £150 to £1,500 depending on how late the accounts are — and it doubles where accounts are filed late in two successive financial years.

What is the late filing penalty at Companies House?

A fixed civil penalty, banded by lateness. For a private company:

The bands are cliff edges, not a sliding scale. Accounts one day into the "more than 1 month" band cost £375, the same as accounts three months less a day late.

When are company accounts due?

Nine months after the end of the relevant accounting reference period, for a private company. Section 442 of the Companies Act 2006 sets the period allowed for filing.

So a company with a 31 March year end files by 31 December; a 30 September year end files by 30 June. The anchor is your accounting reference date, which is a matter of public record and does not move unless you change it.

What is the deadline for a company's first accounts?

Different, and longer, where the first accounting reference period runs beyond twelve months. In that case the deadline is whichever last expires of:

• nine months from the first anniversary of incorporation, or
• three months after the end of the accounting reference period.

A newly incorporated company's first period commonly does exceed twelve months, so this is the ordinary case for first accounts rather than an exception. Applying the flat nine-month rule to a first period produces a deadline earlier than the one the law gives you.

What happens if I shorten my accounting period?

Where the period is shortened by notice under section 392, the deadline is whichever last expires of the normal date or three months from the date of the notice.

This is a protective rule: shortening a period close to its end cannot leave you with a filing deadline that has already passed or is about to. It gives at least three clear months from the notice.

Does the late filing penalty double for repeat late filing?

Yes. The penalty is doubled where accounts are filed late in two successive financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2008.

That takes a private company's worst case from £1,500 to £3,000. The trigger is two successive years — one late filing followed by an on-time one resets the position, but two in a row doubles the second.

What are the late filing penalties for a public company?

Higher across every band: £750 / £1,500 / £3,000 / £7,500 against the same four lateness periods. Public companies also have a shorter filing period — six months under section 442(2)(b), rather than the private company's nine.

Is the penalty automatic, or is there discretion?

It is described as automatic: it attaches on the basis of the filing date against the deadline, without any assessment of why the accounts were late.

The penalty amounts sit in the Companies House late filing penalties guidance, while the deadline itself is statutory, in section 442. That split is worth knowing — the deadline is fixed by the Act, the penalty table is published by the registrar.

Can I get an extension on filing accounts?

Yes, but bounded. The Secretary of State can grant an extension, and it is capped: any extension must not extend filing beyond twelve months after the end of the relevant accounting reference period.

So the outer limit is twelve months from the period end, whatever the grounds. Unlike the confirmation statement — which has no extension mechanism at all — accounts do have a route, but one with a hard statutory ceiling.

Does audit exemption or small-company filing change the deadline?

No. Audit exemption and the small-company filing options change what you file, not when you file it.

A small company entitled to file abridged or filleted accounts is on exactly the same nine-month clock as a company filing full audited accounts, and faces exactly the same penalty ladder if it misses.

Is filing accounts the same as filing a Company Tax Return?

No — two filings, two recipients, two deadlines. Accounts go to Companies House nine months after the period end. The Company Tax Return goes to HMRC, generally twelve months after the same period end.

Both are commonly prepared from the same underlying figures, which is exactly why they get conflated. The Companies House deadline is the earlier of the two, so working to the HMRC one leaves you three months late and inside the £750 band.

What happens if I file late?

The penalty attaches immediately on the day after the deadline, at the first band, and escalates as you cross each threshold. If the previous financial year's accounts were also filed late, the doubling applies.

Because the bands are defined by elapsed time rather than by any action of yours, the cost of a delay is entirely predictable — and the cheapest moment to file late accounts is always now rather than after the next threshold.

How do I file annual accounts?

Through the Companies House filing service, against your accounting reference date. The date to work back from is the accounting reference date on the public register — not your management year end, and not the date your accountant expects to have figures ready.

Related

• Confirmation statement — the other Companies House annual filing, on a criminal rather than civil penalty regime
• Company tax return (CT600) — the HMRC filing on the same accounting period, three months later
• Pay corporation tax — due nine months and one day after the period end
• Adequate accounting records — the underlying record-keeping duty
• Pillar hub: Companies House filing obligations (placeholder)
• Companies House deadline checker — enter your company number to see your accounting reference date and filing deadline