Companies House impose penalties for filing accounts late, due to a culture of late filing by companies. This has certainly been a wake up call to company owners especially with the increase in penalties in February 2009. There used to be a loophole where by filing incomplete (eg unsigned) accounts you would be given an extra couple of weeks to file accounts but that has since been revoked. There is now almost no excuse for late accounts.
Recently a client of ours had a deadline of which they were well aware, and having missed the first deadline had another month before the second level of penalty would be applied. As they had not kept their records right up to date (as indeed they are obliged to as a company) they were struggling to complete everything in time. Luckily we were able to drop everything in order to help out and managed to file the accounts electronically at 5pm on the deadline day.
Lessons learned:
- Keep your records up to date, your accountant should be able to make it easier for you, just ask
- If you have an authentication code from Companies House accounts can be filed instantly and you do not need to rely on the post or a courier
- Complete your accounts promptly then you will not have to worry about Companies House or HMRC
The penalties are shown on the following table available from Companies House
| How late are the accounts delivered | Penalty – Private Company |
Penalty – PLC |
|---|---|---|
| Not more than one month | £ 150 | £750 |
| More than one month but not more than three months | £375 | £1,500 |
| More than three months but not more than six months | £750 | £3,000 |
| More than six months | £1,500 | £7,500 |
Most of our clients supply their records within a couple of months of their year end which gives them lots of warning for their corporation tax bill and they do not need to worry about any penalties. This article gives some general information so you should seek professional advice before taking any steps based on your personal situation. If you would like advice in this or other areas feel free to call. Alastair Wood, AW Accounting, Gravesend, Kent – Accountants who “speak your language”