A Guide to Limited Company Tax Deadlines

All actively trading companies must file annual accounts with Companies House and an annual tax return with HM Revenue and Customs, and your new business is no exception. If you don't have an accountant on hand to take care of your tax obligations, here's a breakdown of the key deadlines you need to prepare for.

When you first set up a new limited company, you’ll automatically have different deadlines for Companies House and HMRC. These can be changed in the future so that the dates coincide with each other, but for your first year, you’ll need to be on the ball.

When do limited companies pay tax?

Here’s a breakdown of the most important tax deadlines for UK limited companies:

Requirement	Due date	Penalty for late filing
Annual Accounts (Companies House)	9 months after the end of the accounting period	£150 – £1,500 depending on lateness
Confirmation Statement (Companies House)	12 months after incorporation or last filing	No fine, but risk of company strike-off
Company Tax Return (HMRC)	12 months after the end of the accounting period	£100 fine, increasing if late
Corporation Tax Payment (HMRC)	9 months and 1 day after the accounting period ends	Interest charged on late payments

1. Filing annual accounts at Companies House

Every year, all limited companies are legally required to complete annual accounts. Your annual accounts should include a profit and loss statement, a balance sheet, notes about the accounts, a director’s report, an auditor’s report and the name and signature of the relevant company directors (you may not have to include everything on this list if you’re eligible for exemptions due to the size of the company or other reasons).

Companies House automatically creates a financial year-end for your company when you incorporate. This is set to be the last day of the month your company was registered. Filing for your annual accounts is usually 9 months after the end of your accounting period, except for the first year.

An example of annual account deadlines:

You incorporate your company on 16th July 2023
Your accounting reference date will be 31st July for every year after your first filing. Your filing deadline is 9 months after the accounting reference date, i.e. 30th April.
Your deadline for filing your first statutory accounts with Companies House is 21 months from the date of incorporation, so will be 15th April 2025
The deadline for your second filing will be 30th April 2026, and it will continue to be 30th April each year afterwards unless you decide to change the accounting period.

You can choose to change your accounting period if needed. You can bring it forward by as many months as you want, as frequently as you would like. However, you can only extend your year-end by a maximum of 18 months, once every 5 years.

If you miss the deadline for filing your annual accounts, the penalty ranges from £150 – £1,500 depending on how late you are.

When are company accounts due?

Your company’s annual accounts must be filed within 9 months after the end of its accounting period.

Example deadline calculation:

Incorporation date: 16th July 2023
Accounting reference date: 31st July (end of the month of incorporation)
First filing deadline: 15th April 2025 (21 months from incorporation)
Ongoing filing deadline: 30th April every year after that

You can change your accounting period, but you can only extend it once every five years by a maximum of 18 months.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

Late filing penalties range from £150 to £1,500 depending on how late you submit.

What do my annual accounts need to include?

Your annual accounts should include:

A profit and loss statement
A balance sheet
Notes about the accounts
A director’s report
An auditor’s report
The name and signature of the relevant company directors

You may not have to include everything on this list if you’re eligible for exemptions due to the size of the company or other reasons.

2. Confirmation Statement due at Companies House

All limited companies must submit a Confirmation Statement annually to verify that Companies House holds accurate details about the business.

When is the confirmation statement due?

Due date: 12 months after incorporation or the last filing date
Filing window: You have 14 days after the due date to submit it

Example confirmation statement deadline

If you registered on 1st January 2025, your first Confirmation Statement is due on 1st January 2026. You must file it by 15th January 2026 to avoid penalties.

What happens if you miss the confirmation statement deadline?

There’s no penalty for late filing, but Companies House may strike off your company if you fail to submit it.

What does my confirmation statement need to include?

The Confirmation Statement needs to include details of your:

Registered office
Names and addresses of directors
A statement of capital and shareholder information
The company’s SIC code
A register of ‘people with significant control’.

A SIC code is a Standard Industrial Classification code and is used to define your company's economic activity. Consisting of five numbers, a SIC code helps to identify what exactly it is your company sells and provides to consumers.

3. Filing a company tax return with HMRC

A Company Tax Return (CT600) declares your profits and calculates the amount of Corporation Tax due.

The company tax return must be completed and submitted to HMRC together with a financial report and calculation to declare how much tax is due to be paid by your company.

When is the company tax return due?

Due date: 12 months after the end of your accounting period

You will receive the dates of your accounting period by post once you have your company registered with HMRC.

Example company tax return deadline

Incorporation date: 1st January 2024
Chosen accounting period end: 31st March 2025
Filing deadline: 31st March 2026

If you first incorporated on 1st January 2024 but you choose 31st March 2025 as the end date for your accounting period, your overall accounting period for the first year spans 15 months.

Your first Company Tax Return will need to cover two periods:

1st January 2024 to 31st December 2024
1st January 2025 to 31st March 2025

Both will be due at the same time, which is 31st March 2026 (12 months after the end of the accounting period).

Even if your company made a loss, you must still submit a tax return.

What the penalties for filing your company tax return late?

Days late	Penalty
1 day	£100
More than 3 months	Additional £100
6 months	HMRC estimates your tax bill and adds 10% penalty
12 months	Another 10% penalty
3 consecutive late filings	£500 fine per missed return

4. Paying your corporation tax to HMRC

Corporation Tax is payable on company profits and must be paid directly to HMRC.

When is Corporation Tax due?

You must pay your corporation tax 9 months and 1 day after the end of your accounting period. Your accounting period is usually your financial year, but you may have 2 accounting periods in the year you set up your company.

Example corporation tax deadline

Incorporation Date: 1st January 2024
Accounting Period Ends: 31st March 2025
Tax Payment Due: 1st January 2026

Using the same example, if you incorporated on 1st January 2024 and chose 31st March 2025 as your accounting period end, your first accounting year spans 15 months, so you’ll have two tax periods:

1st January 2024 – 31st December 2024
- Corporation Tax due: 1st October 2025
1st January 2025 – 31st March 2025
- Corporation Tax due: 1st January 2026

What happens if you pay late?

HMRC charges interest on overdue Corporation Tax. The current late payment interest rate from 6th April 2025 is 8.5%.

Interest is charged from the day after the tax should have been paid (i.e. normally 9 months and 1 day after the end of your accounting period).

Key takeaways

File annual accounts with Companies House within 9 months of the accounting period ending.
Submit a confirmation statement yearly to Companies House.
Send your company tax return to HMRC within 12 months of the accounting period.
Pay Corporation Tax within 9 months and 1 day of the accounting period ending.

About the Author

Simon Thomas is the Founder and Managing Director of Ridgefield Consulting - Oxford’s leading independent accountancy firm. Simon has over 15 years’ experience as a chartered accountant and founded Ridgefield Consulting in 2010 after working for EY, one of the big four accountancy firms in London and the UK. Ridgefield Consulting offers a wide range of guidance on Coronavirus support schemes for businesses, proudly earning more 5* Google reviews than any other accountancy firm in Oxford.