Limited company accounts deadlines: what to file, when, and what happens if you are late

A limited company does not have one year-end deadline. It has a Companies House deadline for annual accounts, an HMRC payment date for Corporation Tax and an HMRC filing date for the Company Tax Return. The dates often sit close together, which is why they are easy to collapse into one vague memory. They should be tracked separately.

This guide covers the normal rules for a UK private limited company. Large companies that pay Corporation Tax by instalments, companies with shortened or extended periods and companies in groups can follow different rules. Your own Companies House register and HMRC account are the final check.

Limited company deadlines at a glance

These are delivery deadlines, not suggested posting dates. Companies House says accounts must arrive by the due date, and a weekend or bank holiday does not automatically move that date. If a submission is rejected and the corrected accounts arrive late, a penalty may still follow.

Why year end creates three different clocks

1. Annual accounts tell the company’s financial story

Statutory accounts are prepared from the company’s financial records. Depending on the reporting regime, they include a balance sheet, profit and loss account, notes and sometimes a directors’ report. The balance sheet must carry a director’s printed name and be approved and signed on behalf of the board. The accounts are delivered to Companies House.

Small-company and micro-entity regimes can reduce what appears in the copy delivered to the public register. They do not remove the need to maintain the accounting records from which proper accounts can be prepared.

2. Corporation Tax is paid before the return is due

In the ordinary case, Corporation Tax is payable nine months and one day after the end of the Corporation Tax accounting period. That is earlier than the deadline for the Company Tax Return. A company therefore needs a reliable tax figure before the return’s final filing date. Companies with taxable profits above the instalment thresholds can have earlier payment dates and should not use the simple rule in this guide.

3. The Company Tax Return is the HMRC filing

The Company Tax Return is normally due 12 months after the Corporation Tax accounting period. It is filed with HMRC and generally includes the return, the company accounts and a tax computation in the required electronic formats. This is separate from delivering accounts to Companies House, even when software prepares both from the same underlying books.

Companies House receives the accounts. HMRC receives the Company Tax Return. The tax payment has its own earlier date.

Worked example: a 31 March 2026 year end

Take a straightforward private company whose financial year and Corporation Tax accounting period both end on 31 March 2026. Assuming it is not in its first period and does not pay Corporation Tax by instalments, the usual sequence is:

This example is a way to see the spacing between the dates, not a substitute for checking a company’s actual record. A changed accounting reference date, a long first period or a different Corporation Tax period changes the calculation.

The first year is the awkward one

GOV.UK gives a useful headline rule: a private company’s first accounts are usually due 21 months after incorporation. The exact statutory calculation depends on the length of the first accounting period, so the safest habit is to use the date displayed on the Companies House register.

There is a second complication. A Corporation Tax accounting period cannot be longer than 12 months, while first statutory accounts often cover slightly more than 12 months. The first set of accounts may therefore feed two Company Tax Returns, each with its own period and payment calculation. Do not assume the single Companies House accounts period is also one HMRC period.

What “ready for year end” actually looks like

A deadline calendar helps, but it does not make the work ready. The slow part is usually reconstruction: identifying transactions months later, locating the invoice behind a payment, explaining money moved by a director and finding the official letter that changed the plan.

A year that has stayed current should reach the reporting date with:

• bank activity recorded and reconciled to the statements supplied;
• invoices, receipts and other evidence linked to the transactions they explain;
• director payments, loans and reimbursements identified rather than left in suspense;
• company mail read, with filing dates and requests captured;
• genuine gaps listed as explicit questions, not hidden by a guessed category; and
• the books and supported year-end work assembled for review.

“Prepared” is not the same as “filed”, and filing is not the same as acceptance. A director still reviews the accounts and provides the authority required for a submission. The useful automation is the work before that moment: keeping the record coherent enough that the decision is small and informed.

What happens if the company is late?

Companies House accounts penalties

For a private company, the automatic late-filing penalties reviewed on 20 July 2026 are:

The penalty doubles when accounts are late in two successive financial years. Persistent failure can also lead to enforcement action against the company and its officers; the civil tariff should not be treated as a price for buying more time.

HMRC Company Tax Return penalties

For a Company Tax Return with a filing date on or after 1 April 2026, HMRC’s current published tariff starts with a £200 penalty after one day and another £200 after three months. At six months HMRC can estimate the Corporation Tax bill and add a penalty of 10% of unpaid tax; another 10% can be added at 12 months. The fixed penalties can rise to £1,000 each after repeated late returns.

Late payment of Corporation Tax can also attract interest and other consequences independently of the return penalty. Filing the return and paying the tax remain separate jobs.

How company filing works in 2026

HMRC’s former joint online service for filing company accounts and a Company Tax Return closed on 31 March 2026. Most companies now need compatible commercial software for the HMRC return, or an agent who uses it. That change does not alter the underlying deadlines.

Companies House has separately announced a move to software-only accounts filing from April 2028. That is a future change, not the current 2026 rule. It is worth preparing good digital records now, but do not describe a 2028 requirement as if it already applies.

Official sources and review note

We reviewed this guide on 20 July 2026 against the following primary guidance. Follow the links for the complete rules and later updates.

• GOV.UK: Accounts and tax returns for private limited companies
• Companies House: Life of a company — accounts
• GOV.UK: First company accounts and Company Tax Return
• HMRC: Company Tax Return obligations
• Companies House: Late accounts penalties
• HMRC: Company Tax Return late-filing penalties
• HMRC: Closure of the former online filing service