Fines for Late Account Submission

What are the tiered fines for late submission of annual accounts of a Limited at Companies House – and what are the implications in cases of repeat offenses?

Typically, each LTD must submit the previous year's accounts to Companies House within 9 months. Exceptions apply, for example, for the first submission and for PLCs. This article addresses the consequences of late account submissions to Companies House in England.

Late submission of Annual Accounts at Companies House results in penalties, and failure to submit can lead to the dissolution of your company.

The penalties are calculated shortly after the Annual Accounts are received in England, and a corresponding invoice is then sent by Companies House to the registered office of your Limited.

The fees are calculated based on the number of months the submission deadline was exceeded and would then need to be directly transferred to Companies House by you.

For late publication of annual accounts (Accounts) at English Companies House, the following penalties apply:

• No more than 1 month: GBP 150
• More than 1 month, but no more than 3 months: GBP 375
• More than 3 months, but no more than 6 months: GBP 750
• More than 6 months: GBP 1500

Penalties are doubled by Companies House if the company also filed late in the previous year.

Further information about late filing penalties can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/late-filing-penalties/late-filing-penalties

Instructions for paying penalties, including the bank details of Companies House, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/pay-a-penalty-for-filing-company-accounts-late