Companies Act 2006
Filing Deadlines
All companies with financial periods commencing on or after 6 April 2008 will need to file their accounts at Companies House within 9 months of their year end. For most clients, this will make little difference, but for those who do tend to file nearer the deadline, please be aware of this change. So for example:
- Year ended 30 April 2009 - File by 31 January 2010 (was 28 February)
- Year ended 31 May 2009 - File by 28 February 2010 (was 31 March)
- Year ended 30 June 2009 - File by 31 March 2010 (was 30 April)
To enable us to guarantee that we will file your accounts on time, we need your records no later than three months before the filing deadline.
For new companies there are still special rules for filing the first set of accounts, which depend on the formation date. We will advise you as appropriate.
Late Filing Penalties
These have been substantially increased, and if accounts are filed late for a second year in succession, penalties are doubled. The new penalties are as follows:
| 1st Year | 2nd Year |
|---|
| 1 Day late | £150 | £300 |
| 1 Month late | £375 | £750 |
| 3 Months late | £750 | £1,500 |
| 6 Months late | £1,500 | £3,000 |
Service Addresses
It is now permissible for company officers to provide a service address for publication at Companies House. This will mean that your home address is no longer publicly available. This was introduced to enable protection for officers of sensitive companies (e.g. Huntingdon Life Sciences) but this is now available to all company officers. If you want to take advantage of this, please let us know.
Identity Theft
This is now becoming more prevalent, and as part of our package for all limited companies, we will now start to take advantage of two systems offered by Companies House. "MONITOR" enables us to be electronically notified of any forms filed at Companies House, and if these are not expected, we can download the forms and file corrections if necessary. "PROOF" is a system whereby Companies House will only accept forms in electronic format, and we now file all forms in this way. We propose to charge a nominal fee of £25 plus VAT per annum to provide these services to our limited company clients automatically - PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU DO NOT WANT US TO DO THIS ON YOUR BEHALF.
For specific advice on any of the matters above, please contact David Meredith, Andy Wilson, Carolyn Gore, Debbie Nelson-Gracie, or Nicola Rowland on 01580 765088
