Setting up in the UK, UK General, UK Legal

Key dates for UK limited companies after incorporation

What are the key dates following the incorporation of a UK Limited company?

Congratulations on your UK setup. The filing deadlines depend on the core requirements with Companies House and HMRC and any other function such as VAT or payroll that you have or are in the process of setting up. You should familiarise yourself with these key dates following the incorporation of a UK Limited company. Failure to do so may impose financial penalties.

Confirmation Statement

The Confirmation Statement (form CS01) may also be referred to as an Annual Return. It is a snapshot of the directors, shareholders including the person(s) of significant control if they exist. We look at what or whom a Person of Significant Control is here.

This is to be filed on an annual basis. The timeframe for this depends on the date the company was initially formed and annual anniversaries thereafter. If you decide to file the Confirmation Statement sooner than the anniversary; for example to show different shareholders from initial incorporation, this will also change the upcoming date for future Confirmation Statements.

Filing the Confirmation Statement is a legal requirement as a director of a Limited Company. As part of our Secretarial Service, we handle the preparation and submission of this form (CS01).

Year-end Accounts filing

Depending on how you register your company, you may be presented with an option to adjust the Accounting Reference Date. This can be referred to as the ARD. It is the period that the company accounts are produced up to its year-end. It is also possible to adjust this period post-incorporation if you are not presented with the possibility during the initial process.

You can shorten this period as many times as you like – the minimum period you can shorten it by is 1 day.

You can lengthen your company’s financial year:

  • to a maximum of 18 months – once every 5 years

You can only lengthen the financial year more often than every 5 years if:

  • the company is in administration
  • you’re aligning dates with a subsidiary or parent company
  • you have special permission from Companies House

Note: You can’t change your company’s year-end when its accounts are overdue.

If your company is dormant during the initial period of trading, then you should file dormant accounts with Companies House and HMRC.

Corporation Tax

Another requirement is preparing and submitting a Corporation Tax return (form CT600). This is also referred to as income tax by some clients, and It is set at a flat rate of 19% for most UK company’s.

The filing deadline for the return is usually 12 months after the end of your accounting period.

Corporation Tax deadline is usually 9 months and 1day after the end of your accounting period. As part of our year-end accounts production, we also prepare and submit the Corporation Tax form to HMRC.

We explore Corporation Tax further here.

There may be some other functions that you have registered to the Company. You should be aware of their own respective key dates following incorporation of a UK Limited company.

VAT Returns

Following VAT Registration, the Certificate of Registration will outline your initial reporting period and when the first, and subsequent returns are due. These are usually quarterly, but you can opt for monthly or annual returns. Care should be taken if selecting monthly or annually since this can impact a company’s cash flow.

The returns and any payment due to HMRC are due on the 7th, of the second month after your period ends. If this falls on a weekend, the payment and return should be filed and paid prior-to.

Payroll

Payroll is usually monthly, whether mid or end of the month. This is typically decided in the first pay-run and stipulated in the Contract of Employment for the employees.

The pay data should be submitted to HMRC prior to the employees receiving their net pay. Payroll taxes for that pay-run, are due in the middle of the following month – anytime between the 6th and 22nd of the month.

Further information may be found on the Gov.UK website for running a limited company.

We handle payroll for our clients along with processing net salary, taxes, and pension contribution submission under the auto-enrolment (workplace pension) obligations for our clients. For further information on how we can help, please get in touch info@paulbeare.com or call +44 207 183 8786.