Companies House late filing penalties are automatic charges imposed when a UK company delivers its annual accounts after its legal filing deadline.
For a private company or LLP, the penalty starts at £150 and can rise to £1,500. For a public company, it can reach £7,500. The penalty is normally doubled when accounts are filed late in two consecutive financial years.
The financial penalty is only one part of the risk. Failure to file accounts is also a criminal offence under the Companies Act 2006. Directors can potentially be prosecuted personally, fined and, in cases involving persistent filing defaults, face director disqualification proceedings.
The position has become more important in 2026 because Companies House is operating under wider reforms introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
Mandatory director and PSC identity verification is being phased in, Companies House fees increased in February 2026, the old joint HMRC and Companies House filing service closed in March, and further accounts-filing reforms are now scheduled for April 2028.
What Are the Companies House Late Filing Penalties in 2026?
The statutory penalty depends on how late acceptable accounts reach Companies House.
| Length of delay | Private company or LLP | Public company |
| Not more than 1 month | £150 | £750 |
| More than 1 month but not more than 3 months | £375 | £1,500 |
| More than 3 months but not more than 6 months | £750 | £3,000 |
| More than 6 months | £1,500 | £7,500 |
Even being one day late can therefore trigger the minimum penalty.
If the company was also late filing its accounts for the previous financial year, the penalty for the second consecutive late year is normally doubled. A £150 private-company penalty would become £300, while a £1,500 penalty could become £3,000.
The doubling rule applies because the company has filed late in two successive financial years, not simply because the current accounts remain outstanding for a long period.
When Are Company Accounts Due?
For most established private companies, accounts are due at Companies House nine months after the end of the accounting reference period.
Public companies normally have six months.
Different rules apply to first accounts. A newly incorporated private company will commonly have up to 21 months from incorporation where its first accounting period exceeds 12 months, although the exact statutory calculation should always be checked rather than assuming a standard date.
A company should check the deadline shown against its Companies House record well before preparing the filing.
Posting accounts on the deadline does not protect a company if they arrive late. Similarly, electronically submitting defective accounts does not necessarily solve the problem if the filing is rejected and acceptable accounts are not delivered before the deadline.
What Changed at Companies House in 2026?
Companies House compliance in 2026 is no longer just about remembering the annual accounts deadline. Several major regulatory and filing changes now affect directors.
Mandatory Director and PSC Identity Verification
Mandatory identity verification under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act reforms started on 18 November 2025.
That date started a 12-month transition rather than acting as one universal deadline for every existing director.
Existing directors must verify their identity and provide their Companies House personal code in connection with their company’s next confirmation statement during the transition.
If a company has several directors, the necessary verification details must be available for each director before the confirmation statement can be accepted.
People with significant control also have identity-verification obligations, although their individual compliance window depends on their circumstances.
Companies House can refuse a confirmation statement where the required director identity-verification conditions have not been satisfied. Continuing to act as a director after the applicable verification deadline can also constitute an offence.
This makes the period approaching the end of the transition in November 2026 particularly important for existing companies.
Businesses updating information such as their business classification should also understand how changing a SIC code through Companies House interacts with the confirmation statement process.
Registered Office Rules Have Tightened
Since March 2024, every company has been required to maintain an appropriate registered office address.
A Royal Mail PO Box, or an equivalent standalone PO Box service, cannot be used as the company’s registered office.
The address must be somewhere documents delivered to the company would ordinarily come to the attention of somebody acting for it and where delivery can be acknowledged.
This matters for filing compliance because penalty notices, enforcement correspondence and other official communications may be sent using the company’s registered information. Directors should therefore make sure the registered office details remain accurate and usable.
Companies House Fees Increased in February 2026
Several Companies House fees increased from 1 February 2026.
Digital incorporation now costs £100, while the digital confirmation statement fee is £50. A paper confirmation statement costs considerably more.
These charges are separate from late filing penalties. Paying a normal filing fee does not settle or reduce a late accounts penalty.
The Joint HMRC and Companies House Filing Service Has Closed
The former online service that allowed some companies to file annual accounts and a Company Tax Return together closed permanently on 31 March 2026.
From 1 April 2026, the obligations need to be dealt with through the appropriate filing routes.
Companies House accounts and the HMRC Company Tax Return remain separate legal obligations with different deadlines. Companies should not assume that completing one automatically satisfies the other.
For businesses reviewing the tax side separately, the rules around Corporation Tax for a limited company are distinct from the Companies House late filing regime.
Mandatory Software Filing Is Now Scheduled for April 2028
Earlier in 2026 there was uncertainty surrounding the timetable for mandatory software filing. Plans for an April 2027 introduction were put under review in January.
The position was subsequently clarified in June 2026.
The government now plans to introduce the main accounts reforms from April 2028. From then, UK registered companies are expected to file annual accounts through commercial software in iXBRL format.
Web and paper filing routes for annual accounts are due to close as part of that transition, although Companies House online services will continue for other types of company information.
Other April 2028 changes are expected to include new profit-and-loss filing requirements for small companies and micro-entities, removal of abridged accounts and changes affecting audit-exemption statements.
Companies therefore have additional preparation time, but the reform has not been cancelled.
Can Companies House Prosecute a Director Personally?
Yes.
This is one of the most important distinctions between a late filing penalty and failure to comply with the Companies Act.
Under section 451 of the Companies Act 2006, where the requirements to file accounts and reports have not been met by the end of the permitted filing period, every person who was a director immediately before the deadline can commit an offence.
The legislation provides a defence where the director proves that they took all reasonable steps to ensure the filing requirements would be met.
Simply saying that the accountant did not finish the accounts is not automatically a defence.
Is the Criminal Case Separate From the £1,500 Penalty?
Yes.
The statutory late filing penalty is a civil liability imposed on the company when late accounts are eventually delivered.
Criminal enforcement is different.
A private company could therefore incur a £1,500 late filing penalty while a director separately faces prosecution because the required accounts were not filed.
A director convicted of a filing offence can receive a criminal record and a potentially unlimited fine. Continued non-compliance can also attract a daily default fine.
Where Are Companies House Prosecutions Heard?
Companies House filing prosecutions in England and Wales have commonly been dealt with through Cardiff Magistrates’ Court, reflecting the location of Companies House.
A director receiving a summons, postal requisition or other criminal court documentation should treat it very differently from an ordinary civil late filing penalty notice.
Legal advice may be appropriate because the case concerns personal criminal liability rather than simply payment of the company’s penalty.
Can Repeated Companies House Offences Lead to Director Disqualification?
Persistent filing failures can result in disqualification proceedings.
Under the director-disqualification legislation, three or more relevant defaults within a five-year period can establish persistent breaches of companies legislation for the purposes of disqualification proceedings.
This does not mean every director with three late civil penalties is automatically disqualified. Criminal convictions or other qualifying defaults and the statutory process matter.
However, the risk is real rather than theoretical.
Companies House announced in August 2026 that hundreds of directors had been successfully prosecuted for non-filing offences during the first half of the year. Between January and March 2026 alone, 360 directors from 332 companies were convicted of filing offences.
During the first six months of 2026, 23 directors were disqualified for persistent or serious filing non-compliance, with the disqualifications totalling 70 years.
That current enforcement activity makes it risky to treat repeated overdue accounts as a minor administrative matter.
What Do Historical Late Filing Figures Show?
Late filing has affected substantial numbers of companies for many years.
In 2018, 25,049 companies missed the common September accounts deadline. Companies House issued 223,640 late filing penalties during the year, while 643 companies reportedly filed their accounts in the final hour before the September deadline.
These older figures are useful historical context, but the 2026 enforcement statistics are more relevant when assessing the current approach to director prosecution and persistent defaults.
Can a Companies House Conviction Affect International Travel?
A criminal conviction can also create practical consequences outside company law.
Some overseas visa processes ask applicants about previous arrests or criminal convictions. US immigrant and non-immigrant visa procedures, for example, can require criminal-history information.
That does not mean every Companies House conviction automatically prevents entry to the United States or automatically makes somebody ineligible for a visa. Immigration consequences depend on the country, the application route, the offence and the questions being asked.
A director with a criminal conviction should therefore answer immigration or visa questions accurately and obtain specialist advice where necessary rather than assuming that a company filing offence is irrelevant.
What Happens If Accounts Are Submitted but Rejected?
Submitting accounts does not guarantee that the filing requirement has been satisfied.
Companies House can reject accounts because they do not meet filing requirements. Problems can include missing signatures, incorrect accounting periods, incomplete statements, formatting problems or other deficiencies.
If the company submits defective accounts shortly before its deadline and replacement accounts are not accepted in time, a late filing penalty can still follow.
That is one reason filing on the final evening is risky. Leaving several days or weeks between submission and the statutory deadline gives the company an opportunity to correct a rejected filing.
What Should a Company Do If It Cannot Finish Its Accounts in Time?
A company should not knowingly insert inaccurate figures or submit accounts that the directors cannot properly approve simply to avoid a filing penalty.
Statutory accounts have legal content and approval requirements.
Where the problem results from an unexpected event outside the company’s control, Companies House allows businesses to apply for more time before the existing filing deadline expires.
Examples can include an unexpected serious illness or an event such as fire destroying essential company records close to the filing deadline.
The extension application must be made before the normal deadline. Waiting until accounts are already late and then asking retrospectively for more time will normally be too late for this procedure.
A company should continue working towards its existing deadline while an extension request is being considered unless Companies House confirms that additional time has been granted.
How Can a Company Change Its Accounting Reference Date?
Changing the accounting reference date changes the date on which the company’s financial year ends and can also change the filing deadline.
The change can normally be made online or using form AA01.
A company can generally change the accounting reference date for its current financial year or the immediately preceding financial year, but it cannot use the procedure once the relevant accounts are already overdue.
A company may shorten its financial year as many times as necessary. When an accounting period is shortened, the resulting filing deadline needs to be recalculated carefully because shortening the year can sometimes bring the deadline forward.
A company can normally lengthen its financial year only once every five years, usually up to a maximum accounting period of 18 months. Exceptions can apply, including some situations involving administration or alignment with a parent or subsidiary.
Directors should therefore never change the accounting reference date solely on the assumption that it will automatically create extra filing time.
Can Dormant Companies Receive Late Filing Penalties?
Yes.
Dormant status does not remove the Companies House filing obligation.
A dormant company can still have to prepare and submit dormant accounts and file its confirmation statement. If its accounts are late, the normal automatic late filing penalty can apply.
This is a common problem where directors stop trading through a company but leave the legal entity registered.
A company remains subject to its statutory filing responsibilities until it has been properly dissolved or another relevant legal process changes those obligations.
Can a Company Appeal a Late Filing Penalty?
Yes, but the grounds are limited.
An appeal generally needs to show that exceptional or unexpected circumstances prevented the company from filing on time or that Companies House itself made an error.
Serious illness occurring close to the deadline, unexpected bereavement or destruction of company records in an event such as a fire may potentially be relevant, depending on the evidence and timing.
By contrast, Companies House is unlikely to cancel a penalty solely because the company was dormant, the directors forgot the deadline, the company cannot afford the penalty, accounts were delayed in the post or the company relied on its accountant.
The appeal should set out exactly what happened, when it happened, how it prevented filing and what steps were taken to meet the deadline.
Supporting evidence can materially strengthen the application.
What Happens If the First Appeal Is Rejected?
A rejected appeal is not necessarily the end of the internal review process.
The company can ask the Senior Casework Unit within the Late Filing Penalties Department to review the matter.
If that review still upholds the penalty, the company can ask the Companies House Independent Adjudicators to examine the case.
However, the adjudicators’ powers are limited.
They can review how Companies House handled the appeal and whether the correct process and principles were followed, but the legal discretion over whether to collect a statutory late filing penalty remains with the registrar.
The adjudicators therefore cannot simply order Companies House to cancel a penalty because they consider the outcome harsh.
What Happens If a Company Cannot Afford the Penalty?
Financial difficulty does not normally provide grounds for cancelling a Companies House late filing penalty.
However, Companies House may accept payment by instalments over a short period where a company genuinely cannot pay immediately.
The company should contact Companies House promptly rather than ignoring the notice.
For late filing penalty or instalment enquiries, Companies House currently gives the following contact details:
Email: enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk
Telephone: 0303 1234 500
These details are provided as contact information rather than external website links.
Which Debt Collection Agencies Does Companies House Use?
Unpaid penalties can be passed for debt recovery.
Companies House currently identifies Bluestone Credit Management, BPO and CCSCollect as debt collection agencies it uses.
It also uses legal representatives for some recovery action.
Receiving contact from one of these agencies does not automatically mean the underlying penalty is incorrect or fraudulent. The company should compare the correspondence against its Companies House penalty reference and official filing history.
If an appeal is already in progress, the company should still respond appropriately to debt-recovery correspondence and explain that the penalty has been appealed.
Ignoring recovery action can eventually result in court proceedings and additional legal costs.
Companies House Penalties vs HMRC Penalties
Companies House and HMRC deal with different obligations.
| Companies House | HMRC |
| Receives statutory company accounts | Receives Company Tax Returns |
| Maintains the public company register | Administers Corporation Tax |
| Imposes Companies House late filing penalties | Can impose tax-return and payment penalties |
| Can pursue filing compliance and strike-off processes | Can charge tax, interest and tax penalties |
| Accounts deadline is based on company law | Tax-return and payment deadlines follow tax rules |
A company can therefore meet its HMRC obligations while still receiving a Companies House late filing penalty.
The reverse is also true: filing statutory accounts with Companies House does not mean that the company’s Corporation Tax return has been completed.
This distinction has become especially important since the joint HMRC and Companies House filing service closed on 31 March 2026.
How Can Companies Avoid Late Filing Penalties?
The safest approach is to treat the Companies House deadline as the final legal limit rather than the date on which filing work should begin.
Businesses should know their accounting reference date, maintain reliable financial records throughout the year and give accountants enough time to complete the accounts.
Directors should also personally monitor progress instead of assuming an accountant will deal with every deadline automatically.
Once accounts have been submitted, the filing status should be checked rather than simply assuming that transmission means successful delivery.
Identity verification should also be completed well before the company’s confirmation statement becomes due. During the current ECCTA transition, leaving verification until the filing date can create an avoidable blockage.
Finally, the company should ensure that Companies House has an appropriate registered office and active registered email address so that important regulatory communications are not missed.
FAQs
What is the minimum Companies House late filing penalty in 2026?
For a private company or LLP, the minimum late filing penalty is £150 where accounts are not more than one month late. Public companies face a minimum £750 penalty.
What happens if company accounts are one day late?
A one-day delay can trigger the full minimum statutory late filing penalty. There is no general one-day grace period.
Does a dormant company have to file accounts?
Yes. Dormant companies generally remain subject to annual Companies House filing requirements and can receive late filing penalties.
Does hiring an accountant remove the director’s responsibility?
No. Accountants can prepare and file documents, but directors remain legally responsible for ensuring the company’s statutory obligations are met.
Can Companies House prosecute a director?
Yes. Failure to file required accounts can be a criminal offence under section 451 of the Companies Act 2006. Criminal prosecution is separate from the civil penalty imposed on the company.
Can a director be disqualified for repeated filing failures?
Yes. Persistent breaches of company filing legislation can support director disqualification proceedings. Three or more relevant defaults within five years can be particularly significant under the disqualification legislation.
Can the accounting reference date be changed to get more time?
Changing the accounting reference date can alter the filing deadline, but it is subject to statutory restrictions and can sometimes shorten rather than extend the available filing period. It cannot normally be changed once the relevant accounts are already overdue.
How often can a company lengthen its financial year?
A company can normally lengthen its financial year only once every five years, subject to exceptions. The accounting period is generally limited to a maximum of 18 months.