Companies House late filing penalties 2026: costs, appeals

In short: A private limited company that delivers its annual accounts to Companies House late pays an automatic penalty of £150, £375, £750 or £1,500, depending on how late they arrive, and double that if the previous year's accounts were also late (GOV.UK: Penalties for late filing of annual accounts). The company pays it, and appeals succeed only in exceptional circumstances.

Check your own dates with the Corporation Tax deadline calculator, or take the 30-second check to see whether Taxley fits your company.

Key facts (checked on 28 September 2026)

How much is the Companies House late filing penalty in 2026?

In 2026 a private limited company pays £150 if its accounts reach Companies House up to 1 month late, £375 up to 3 months, £750 up to 6 months and £1,500 after that. A public company pays £750 to £7,500. These amounts have applied since 1 February 2009 and didn't change in 2025 or 2026 (SI 2008/497 reg 4).

The penalty is automatic and runs from the deadline to the day Companies House receives acceptable accounts, not the day they were sent. Companies House's penalty guidance, last updated on 16 January 2026, says a deadline that falls on a Sunday or a bank holiday still applies (Companies House: Late filing penalties). Accounts sent back for a fault, such as an unsigned balance sheet, don't stop the clock: if the corrected accounts arrive after the deadline, the company is penalised, and a rejection close to the deadline brings no extra time (Companies House: Life of a company). The rules cover every company, trading or not, so a dormant company with nothing to report still pays if its accounts arrive late. The penalty notice goes to the registered office.

The company pays the late filing penalty, not the directors. Section 453 of the Companies Act 2006 makes the company liable to a civil penalty for each financial year whose accounts miss the deadline, on top of any criminal liability of its directors (Companies Act 2006 s.453). Directors remain personally responsible for getting the accounts delivered on time. Companies House's guidance says an unpaid penalty goes to debt collection agencies and can end up in the County Court or Sheriff Court, where the registrar may also claim its legal costs (Companies House: Late filing penalties). A company that can't pay at once can ask, ideally in writing, to pay by monthly instalments over a short period. A penalty imposed on or after 30 March 2020 can generally be paid online, using the reference on the penalty notice.

What would a company with a 31 March 2025 year end pay?

A private company with a 31 March 2025 year end had to deliver its accounts by 31 December 2025. Filing a day late costs £150, and filing on 1 July 2026 costs £1,500. If its 2024 accounts were also late, each amount doubles, to a maximum of £3,000. Taxley's worked example shows where each band starts and ends.

Taxley's worked example: year end 31 March 2025, accounts due 31 December 2025

Taxley's worked example measures lateness from the deadline day itself, as regulation 4(3) requires: the period runs from the end of the filing period to the day the accounts are delivered (SI 2008/497 reg 4). Each band uses Companies House's month rule: a period of months ends on the corresponding date, or on the last day of the later month when it starts on a month's last day (Companies House: Life of a company). From the 31 December 2025 deadline, the 1-, 3- and 6-month bands end on 31 January, 31 March and 30 June 2026, because June has no 31st. Two dates stand out. Accounts delivered on New Year's Day, a bank holiday, are already late. And 31 March 2026 is also this company's deadline for its Company Tax Return (CT600), which is due 12 months after the accounting period ends (GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns: Overview). A company that leaves both jobs until that day already owes Companies House £375 on the day its CT600 falls due.

When is a Companies House late filing penalty doubled?

The penalty doubles when a company's accounts are late in two successive financial years. A private company then pays £300, £750, £1,500 or £3,000 instead of £150 to £1,500, and a public company pays up to £15,000. The doubling is set by law, so Companies House applies it automatically (Companies House: Late filing penalties).

The rule is in regulation 4 of the Companies (Late Filing Penalties) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Filing Periods and Late Filing Penalties) Regulations 2008, which doubles the table amount whenever the company also failed to meet its filing requirements for the previous financial year (SI 2008/497 reg 4). What counts is whether last year's accounts were delivered late, so a company that is late every year pays double every year after the first. A company with a 31 March year end whose 2024 accounts missed their 31 December 2024 deadline pays £300, not £150, if its 2025 accounts arrive on 1 January 2026. The practical fix is to break the run: file the next year's accounts well before the deadline, and register for Companies House's email reminders so the date doesn't slip again (GOV.UK: Registering for email reminders from Companies House).

What else happens if a company doesn't file its accounts?

Not filing accounts is also a criminal offence. Every director risks prosecution and, if convicted, a criminal record and a potentially unlimited fine for each offence. Companies House can also strike the company off the register, and its bank account and property can then pass to the Crown (Companies House: Life of a company).

GOV.UK warns that a company can be fined and struck off the register if it doesn't send Companies House its accounts or confirmation statement (GOV.UK: Penalties for late filing of annual accounts). Striking off follows a set process under section 1000 of the Companies Act 2006. The registrar writes to ask whether the company is still in business, writes again if there is no answer, and can then publish a Gazette notice that the company will be struck off and dissolved 2 months later unless cause is shown (Companies Act 2006 s.1000). The directors' liability continues after dissolution. A company restored to the register doesn't pay penalties for the time it was dissolved, but it still owes any unpaid earlier penalties and the penalties on accounts that were already overdue when it was dissolved.

Prosecution is aimed at the directors, not the company. Section 451 of the Companies Act 2006 makes every person who was a director immediately before the deadline guilty of an offence, with a defence only for a director who took all reasonable steps to get the accounts filed on time (Companies Act 2006 s.451). Companies House says criminal proceedings come on top of the company's penalty, and that a late confirmation statement can bring a financial penalty of its own (Companies House: Late filing penalties). HMRC runs a separate regime: the CT600 has its own deadline and its own automatic penalties, set out in what happens if you file your CT600 late. Sending the accounts to HMRC with the return doesn't file them at Companies House, as the guide to the CT600, the accounts and the confirmation statement explains.

Can you appeal a Companies House late filing penalty?

Yes, but an appeal generally succeeds only if something unexpected and outside the company's control stopped the filing close to the deadline, such as serious illness or a fire, or if Companies House made an error. In 2024 to 2025 Companies House issued 317,985 penalties; 47,673 were appealed and 10,258 were cancelled or not collected (adjudicators' report).

Most appeals fail because the reason isn't exceptional. Companies House lists grounds that are unlikely to succeed on their own: the company is dormant or can't afford to pay, the directors relied on an accountant or the accountant was ill, these are the first accounts, the directors didn't know the filing rules, the company has financial difficulties, the accounts were delayed or lost in the post, the directors live or were travelling overseas, or another director was responsible (Companies House: Late filing penalties). The independent adjudicators, who hear the third stage of an appeal, say the event must directly affect the filing, so an appeal has to show what happened and how it stopped the accounts being delivered. Of the 466 cases they considered in 2024 to 2025, they allowed 27, or 6%, in full or in part (adjudicators' report).

To appeal, use GOV.UK's online service with the company number, the penalty reference, the reason and any supporting documents, such as a doctor's note or an insurance claim, each showing the name of the person or company affected and the relevant dates (GOV.UK: Appeal a penalty for filing your company accounts late). The service takes up to 30 minutes, and you can appeal only once against a penalty notice. Companies House doesn't collect the penalty while it considers the appeal. A rejected appeal goes, in this order, to the senior casework manager in the Late Filing Penalties Department, the independent adjudicators and finally the Registrar of Companies; skip a step and the registrar won't review it (GOV.UK: Penalties for late filing of annual accounts). The Companies House appeal pages, checked on 28 September 2026, set no time limit for appealing a late filing penalty, so appeal as soon as the notice arrives.

Can I extend my company accounts deadline?

Yes, but only by applying to Companies House before the deadline passes, and only because of an event outside your control, such as an unexpected illness or a fire that destroys the records a few days before the deadline. The law caps the filing period at 12 months after the year end, extension included (Companies Act 2006 s.442).

Companies House's extension guidance says to apply online with the company number, the reasons and any supporting documents, and to keep working towards the original deadline rather than wait for the decision, which comes by email (GOV.UK: Applying for more time to file your company’s accounts). An extension is granted only if the reasons are exceptional (Companies House: Late filing penalties). It doesn't move future deadlines, a company whose deadline has already been extended may not qualify, and missing the new date brings the normal penalty. Because section 442(5A) of the Companies Act 2006 stops any extension going beyond 12 months after the end of the accounting reference period, a company with a 31 March 2025 year end couldn't have been given a date later than 31 March 2026. An application made on or after 1 January 2026 comes too late to be granted at all.

Changing the company's year end is a different way to move the accounts deadline. GOV.UK says a company can shorten its financial year as often as it likes, or lengthen it to a maximum of 18 months once every 5 years, but only for the current financial year or the one before it, and not while its accounts are overdue (GOV.UK: Change your company's year end). The change cancels any extension already granted for that year, and if the new deadline has already passed, the company gets a late filing penalty. Shortening a year can also bring the deadline forward: the new deadline is the later of 9 months after the new year end and 3 months after Companies House receives form AA01 (Companies House: Life of a company). A new year end normally changes the Corporation Tax accounting periods as well, so HMRC needs the new dates too.

How does Taxley help you file company accounts on time?

Taxley (taxley.co.uk), UK online software that prepares and files the Company Tax Return (CT600) with HMRC and the annual accounts with Companies House, files micro-entity, small, abridged and dormant accounts at Companies House at no extra cost, once the return is paid and the accounts are finished. It doesn't file the confirmation statement.

The filing page's "File accounts at Companies House" button needs the company's 6-character Companies House authentication code, and accepted accounts go on the public register and can't be withdrawn. The Corporation Tax deadline calculator shows the Companies House accounts date beside the Corporation Tax payment and CT600 dates, and the email confirming that HMRC accepted a return normally gives the Companies House due date too. A private company's accounts are due 9 months after its year end (Companies House: Life of a company), 3 months before the CT600, so finish the whole return by the Companies House date rather than the HMRC one. Filing early also leaves time to fix a rejection, because a rejection close to the deadline brings no extra time.

The limits matter for penalties. Taxley has filed accounts at Companies House since 28 September 2026, once the return is paid. It doesn't support periods that started before 1 April 2020, audited companies or companies in liquidation, so a company with older years overdue, or one that needs an audit, needs a different filing route for those years; do I need an accountant? lists what Taxley covers. From 1 April 2028 Companies House will accept accounts only through commercial software (Companies House: Preparing and filing Companies House accounts), as the guide to software-only accounts filing from 2028 explains. The fee per return is on the pricing page. Take the 30-second check to see whether Taxley fits your company.

Frequently asked questions

Do dormant companies get late filing penalties?

Yes. Every company must deliver accounts each year, trading or not, and an appeal based only on the company being dormant is unlikely to succeed. Paying a late filing penalty doesn't stop a company being dormant for Companies House, because it isn't a significant transaction (GOV.UK: Micro-entity, small and dormant company accounts).

Do directors have to pay the penalty from their own money?

No. The Companies Act 2006 makes the company liable for the late filing penalty. Directors face a separate personal risk: failing to file is a criminal offence for each director, and a conviction can bring a criminal record and a fine.

Can the company deduct the penalty for Corporation Tax?

No. HMRC's Business Income Manual says penalties incurred for breaking the law are not allowable deductions (BIM38515), so a late filing penalty in the profit and loss account is added back in the tax computation.

When are a new company's first accounts due?

First accounts covering more than 12 months are due 21 months after incorporation, or 3 months after the accounting reference date if that is later; shorter first accounts follow the normal 9-month rule. The guide to first accounts and two CT600 returns explains the matching HMRC dates.

Does filing on paper or online change the deadline?

No. The deadline is the same, but Companies House records the date it receives acceptable accounts, not the date you sent them. Paper accounts take longer to process, and first class post doesn't guarantee next-day delivery, so file online well before the deadline.

General information, not personalised tax or legal advice. Penalty amounts, appeal rules and statistics checked on GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk on 28 September 2026; you're responsible for the accuracy of your company's filings.