Companies filing their accounts after the due date are subject to late filing penalties which were last changed in February 2009.
Private companies are required to file their accounts within 10 months of the end of the accounting period. Those that file late, but within a month of the due date, will be fined £150. There is an ascending scale of charges if the filing is further delayed. Missing the deadline by more than 6 months will lead to a fine of £1,500.
Public companies must file their accounts within 6 months of the end of the accounting period. Failure to file by the due date will lead to a fine of £750. Again, an ascending scale applies. Missing the deadline by more than 6 months will lead to a fine of £7,500.
These time periods differ slightly for newly-incorporated companies.
Companies House has published useful guidance on filing accounts, including guidance on the presentation of documents: more than 6,000 sets of accounts are rejected annually and if an acceptable set is not delivered by the filing deadline, the company will face a fine.
