Compliance · 4 min read
The UK company calendar: every deadline on one page
Confirmation statement, annual accounts, Corporation Tax return and payment, VAT quarters and PAYE — every recurring deadline for a UK limited company and the penalty for missing each.
Key points
- Annual accounts are due at Companies House nine months after your financial year end.
- Corporation Tax is paid nine months and one day after the year end; the CT600 return is due three months later.
- The confirmation statement is due at least once every 12 months, within 14 days of the review period ending.
- VAT returns and payments are due one month and seven days after each quarter end.
Companies House
- Confirmation statement — at least once every 12 months, filed within 14 days of the end of your review period. Fee £50 online. Late filing is a criminal offence and the company can eventually be struck off.
- Annual accounts — for a private company, nine months after the accounting reference date. Late filing penalties start at £150 and rise to £1,500 the later they get, and double if you are late two years running.
- Changes — new directors, resignations, address changes and share allotments must be filed within 14 days (one month for allotments).
HMRC — Corporation Tax
- Pay Corporation Tax nine months and one day after the end of the accounting period.
- File the CT600 return with full accounts and computations 12 months after the end of the accounting period. A £100 penalty applies the day it is late, rising with time.
- Tell HMRC you are dormant if the company is not trading, or you will be chased for a return anyway.
HMRC — VAT and PAYE
- VAT returns — quarterly by default, due one month and seven days after the quarter end, with payment on the same date. Late submission earns penalty points; late payment attracts interest and penalties.
- PAYE — RTI submission every payday; tax and National Insurance paid by the 22nd of the following month if paying electronically; P60s to employees by 31 May; P11D benefits by 6 July.
Your first year is different
A new company’s first accounting period usually runs from incorporation to the end of the month a year later, which means your first accounts cover slightly more than 12 months and your Corporation Tax may need two returns. Your first accounts deadline is 21 months after incorporation rather than nine months after the year end.
What we do
Every client gets a shared deadline calendar with every date above filled in for their company, and we file the lot. See Ongoing compliance.
This guide is general information for overseas businesses considering the UK, correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown. It is not advice for your specific circumstances — rules and thresholds change. Check with us or HMRC before acting on it.