Company with no income but not dormant: do you file a CT600?

In short: Yes, if HMRC has sent a notice to deliver a Company Tax Return (CT600): the company must file even with a loss or no Corporation Tax to pay (GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns). No income doesn't make a company dormant. A company can start trading before making sales, but preparatory expenditure alone does not establish a trade or trading loss. Once it trades, its CT600 shows the costs and any trading loss. Taxley prepares and files that CT600 for £44.50 (promotion price until 31 Dec 2026; £89.00 from 1 Jan 2027) with micro-entity accounts, then files the accounts at Companies House once the return is paid and finished.

Take the 30-second check to see whether Taxley fits your company, or read how to record a trading loss on the CT600.

Key facts (checked on 1 October 2026)

Do you have to file a CT600 if your company had no income?

Yes, if HMRC has sent the company a notice to deliver a Company Tax Return. GOV.UK says you must still send a return if you make a loss or have no Corporation Tax to pay, and the deadline is the usual 12 months after the accounting period ends. Having no income doesn't cancel the notice (GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns).

The penalties start straight away. For a return due on or after 1 April 2026, filing 1 day late costs £200, rising to £400 once it is more than 3 months late, and to £1,000 or £2,000 for a third late return in a row (Finance Act 2026 s.265). GOV.UK shows the same steps: £200 at 1 day and another £200 at 3 months (GOV.UK: Penalties for late filing). GOV.UK confirms that late-filing penalties apply even if there is no tax to pay (GOV.UK: Pay your Corporation Tax bill). HMRC's guidance adds that a company that hasn't told HMRC it is dormant will still be required to submit a return, and that failing to do so may lead to penalties (HMRC: Corporation Tax trading and non-trading). Filing also helps a company that had costs but no sales. The return records its trading loss, which can then reduce the Corporation Tax on later profits.

Is a company with no income dormant for Corporation Tax?

Not necessarily. GOV.UK says a company is usually dormant for Corporation Tax if it has stopped trading and has no other income, or is a new company that hasn't started trading. A company that traded during the period, even without making a sale, isn't dormant, and neither is one that received interest (GOV.UK: Dormant for Corporation Tax).

GOV.UK's list of what counts is short: trading includes buying, selling, renting property, advertising, employing someone or getting interest. HMRC's guidance adds providing services, managing investments and receiving any other income. It also lists steps that don't start a trade, such as writing a business plan, negotiating contracts or spending money to decide whether to start a business (HMRC: Corporation Tax trading and non-trading). HMRC's manual adds that setting up isn't trading: a trade starts with operational activities, which don't need sales but do involve dealing directly with third parties about the goods or services it will supply (HMRC manual BIM80505). Companies House uses a different test. It calls a company dormant if it had no "significant" transactions in the financial year, and it ignores filing fees paid to Companies House, penalties for filing accounts late and money paid for shares when the company was formed (GOV.UK: Dormant for Companies House). The two tests ask different questions, so check each one separately. The CT600 follows the Corporation Tax test.

Which situation is your company in?

What goes on the CT600 of a company with no income?

The same boxes as any trading company's return, mostly zero: box 145 (turnover) and box 155 (trading profits) show 0, and the trading loss goes in box 780. HMRC's loss guidance says to enter 0 in box 155 and the full amount of the loss in box 780 (GOV.UK: Work out and claim relief from trading losses).

Worked example (an illustration): a design company starts trading on 1 April 2025, offering its services to clients, but wins no work by its year end on 31 March 2026. It spends £600 on a website, £420 on insurance and £180 on software, all allowable revenue costs of the trade. It has no other income.

The return is due on 31 March 2027, 12 months after the period ends (GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns), and with no tax there's nothing to pay. If the company keeps trading, the unused £1,200 loss carries forward to the next accounting period, where the company can claim to set it against its total profits (CTA 2010 s.45A). Costs paid before trading began can still count. Expenses incurred for the trade up to 7 years before it starts are treated as incurred on the first day of trading, if they would have been deductible then (CTA 2009 s.61). So a website bought in February 2025 joins the first period's loss. Our loss schedule guide shows how to keep track of a loss from year to year.

What if the company's only income was bank interest?

Then it had income, so it isn't dormant for Corporation Tax: GOV.UK counts getting interest as trading for the dormant test. The interest goes in box 170 as a non-trading loan relationship profit, and it is taxable even when the company made no sales (HMRC: The Company Tax Return guide).

Small amounts count too, because GOV.UK's dormant test gives no lower limit for interest (GOV.UK: Dormant for Corporation Tax). A trading loss of the same period can be set against the interest by a claim. HMRC's loss guidance says to put the loss in box 780 and the amount claimed against total profits in box 275 (GOV.UK: Work out and claim relief from trading losses). If the design company in the example had also earned £15 of bank interest, box 170 would show £15, a claim in box 275 could cover it, and £1,185 of loss would carry forward. A company with no trade at all that only holds cash may be a close investment-holding company, which can't use the 19% small profits rate (CTA 2010 s.18A). Our guide to company bank interest on the CT600 covers the computation.

Which accounts does a company with no income file at Companies House?

Annual accounts, every year: Companies House says all limited companies must deliver accounts, whether they trade or not. A company with no significant transactions that qualifies as small can file dormant accounts instead. A company that traded files ordinary accounts, which for most small companies means micro-entity or small-company accounts (Companies House: Preparing and filing accounts).

The Companies House test ignores only a few payments: filing fees paid to Companies House, penalties for late filing of accounts and money paid for shares when the company was formed (GOV.UK: Dormant for Companies House). The confirmation statement is still due, whichever accounts the company files. A private company normally has 9 months after its accounting reference date to deliver accounts, a different deadline from the CT600's 12 months (Companies House: Preparing and filing accounts). If the company genuinely didn't trade, see Dormant company tax return software: file a nil CT600 online. If it traded but made no sales, File micro entity accounts online with your CT600 describes the usual route. Our dormant company tax return guide explains the dormant route in full.

Can Taxley file a CT600 for a company with no income that isn't dormant?

Yes. 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 it as an ordinary return: choose the company's usual business type rather than Dormant, enter zero income and the costs it actually had, and Taxley works out any loss.

Taxley asks for profit and loss figures on every return that isn't dormant, and it accepts zeros, so a company with no sales still gets a full tax computation and accounts. The price follows the accounts, not the activity: £44.50 (promotion price until 31 Dec 2026; £89.00 from 1 Jan 2027) with micro-entity accounts or £84.50 (promotion price until 31 Dec 2026; £169.00 from 1 Jan 2027) with small-company accounts. That fee includes filing the accounts at Companies House once the return is paid and finished. The Dormant option (£9.50 (promotion price until 31 Dec 2026; £19.00 from 1 Jan 2027)) skips the profit and loss step entirely, so use it only if the company genuinely didn't trade.

Taxley carries trading losses forward and sets them against later profits. If a trading company with no sales had interest or dividends, Taxley asks whether it is a close investment-holding company, because the answer decides the rate. Take the 30-second check to see whether Taxley fits your company, or start your return.

Frequently asked questions

Does a few pounds of bank interest stop a company being dormant?

Yes, for Corporation Tax. GOV.UK includes getting interest in what counts as trading for the dormant test and gives no lower limit (GOV.UK: Dormant for Corporation Tax). The interest goes in box 170 of a normal CT600, and the company should tell HMRC it is active.

Can a company with no sales have a trading loss to carry forward?

Yes, if it traded. Allowable costs with no income produce a trading loss, entered in box 780. If the company keeps trading, the unused loss carries forward and can be claimed against total profits of the next accounting period (CTA 2010 s.45A).

Do costs paid before the company started trading count?

They can. Expenses incurred for the trade up to 7 years before it starts are treated as incurred on the first day of trading, if they would have been deductible then (CTA 2009 s.61). They then form part of the first trading period's profit or loss.

What if HMRC hasn't sent a notice to deliver a return?

A company chargeable to tax for an accounting period that hasn't received a notice must tell HMRC within 12 months of the end of that period (FA 1998 Sch 18 para 2). Separately, an active company should tell HMRC within 3 months of its accounting period starting.

Is a company that only paid Companies House fees dormant?

For Companies House, yes: it ignores its own filing fees, late filing penalties and share money (GOV.UK: Dormant for Companies House). For Corporation Tax, the test is whether the company traded or had other income, and GOV.UK's list of trading activities doesn't include paying filing fees.

General information, not personalised tax or accounting advice.