In recent years it has become fairly easy to form a limited company online (often without all the paperwork you need…..).
Many owners have companies in the background to ‘save the name’. They may have also changed their plans and didn’t ever trade them. On rare occasions, a previously busy trading company may become dormant.
In order to keep them live you need to do a few things with Companies House each year.
It’s important to mention, that ‘dormant’ is different depending on who is looking at the affairs. The tax people (HMRC) may see it differently to Companies House. Often you may view it as dormant when neither of the official organisations do.
You can see more detail on what makes a company dormant in this blog.
The benefit of being dormant is that the filing requirements are a lot less onerous.
Filing with HMRC
If you are considered dormant by HMRC you don’t need to file a Corporation Tax Return. In your first year, it’s highly likely HMRC will be expecting one, so you should contact your accountant. If you don’t have an accountant, contact HMRC direct to check they are clear you are dormant.
There are instant penalties for late filing, so to be sure to check that HMRC is not expecting a tax return.
Filing with Companies House
Each year you can usually just submit a simple set of accounts to Companies House, and a return is known as the Confirmation Statement/Persons of Significant Control register.
These can all be filed online for free via their ONLINE TOOL. Currently, you can still also file by paper.
These accounts will generally be due 9 months from your accounting year-end.
Directors often get caught out in the first year as its 21 months from registration, so is usually a slightly shorter deadline than expected in year one.
The confirmation statement and Persons of Significant Control register is due for filing around the date of the formation of the company (usually).
You can check these filing deadlines by typing your company name into Companies House.
With all things related to business filing, there are large penalties for not submitting your accounts, so please do make a note of when they are due.
Of course, accountants can help you file these accounts and returns and make sure you are dormant. If you need help, please get in touch – we’d love to have a chat.