Company Accounts Late Filing Penalties: What You Will Pay

If a private limited company files its annual accounts late, Companies House charges an automatic penalty of between £150 and £1,500, depending on how late they are, and the amount doubles if the company was also late the year before. The penalty applies even if the company is dormant, made no profit, or was only a day late. This guide sets out the amounts, how the deadline is worked out, and what to do if you have missed it.

Key takeaways

• Penalties for private companies are £150, £375, £750 or £1,500, depending on how late the accounts are.
• Late two years running? The penalty is doubled.
• Private companies normally have 9 months from the year end to file, and 21 months from incorporation for first accounts.
• HMRC penalties for a late Company Tax Return are separate and charged on top.
• You can ask for more time, but only before the deadline passes.

What is a late filing penalty?

A late filing penalty is a civil penalty that Companies House charges automatically when a company's annual accounts are delivered after the statutory deadline. It is not a fee you can negotiate and it does not depend on whether anyone suffered a loss. The moment acceptable accounts arrive late, the penalty is raised against the company. The rules are set out on the GOV.UK page on penalties for late filing.

Note the word acceptable. If accounts are sent in on time but rejected, for example because they are missing a required statement or relate to the wrong period, and the corrected version arrives after the deadline, they are late.

How much are the penalties?

These are the amounts for private limited companies. Public companies face higher penalties. Always confirm the current figures on GOV.UK before relying on them.

When are company accounts due?

For a private limited company, annual accounts must normally reach Companies House within 9 months of the end of the financial year. A company with a 31 March 2026 year end therefore has until 31 December 2026.

First accounts work differently. If they cover more than 12 months, they are due 21 months after the date of incorporation. New directors are often caught out by this because the date is tied to incorporation, not to the year end.

Your exact deadline is shown on your company's record on the Companies House register. We cover the dates in full in our guide to company accounts deadlines.

The separate HMRC penalties

Companies House and HMRC are different bodies with different deadlines. Your Company Tax Return is normally due 12 months after the end of the accounting period, and HMRC charges its own penalties for late Company Tax Returns:

• 1 day late: £100.
• 3 months late: another £100.
• 6 months late: HMRC estimates your Corporation Tax bill and adds a penalty of 10% of the unpaid tax.
• 12 months late: another 10% of any unpaid tax.

If the return is late three times in a row, the £100 penalties rise to £500 each. Interest is also charged on Corporation Tax paid after its due date, which is normally 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period. See our guide to the Corporation Tax payment deadline.

Beyond the fine: other consequences

• Criminal liability for directors. Failing to file accounts is an offence. Directors can be prosecuted and fined personally, separately from the civil penalty on the company.
• Strike off. If Companies House believes a company is no longer operating, it can begin the process of striking it off the register. Any assets left in a dissolved company pass to the Crown.
• A public record. Late filing is visible to anyone who looks the company up. Lenders, suppliers and credit reference agencies do look.

Worked example (illustrative)

"Brightline Fitouts Ltd", an illustrative example, is a two-director joinery company with a 31 March year end. Its accounts for the year to 31 March 2025 were due by 31 December 2025 and were filed on 20 January 2026, under one month late. The penalty was £150.

The following year the directors are busy again. The accounts to 31 March 2026 are due by 31 December 2026 but are not filed until 15 February 2027. That is more than 1 month but under 3 months late, so the standard penalty would be £375. Because the previous year was also late, it is doubled to £750. Over two years the company has paid £900 in penalties that filing on time would have avoided.

This company is invented for illustration and is not a real client.

What to do if you are going to be late

1. Check the real deadline. Look at the company record on Companies House rather than relying on memory.
2. If the deadline has not passed, consider an extension. You can apply for more time to file where something outside your control has prevented you. Apply before the deadline.
3. File as soon as you can. The bands are based on how late you are. Filing on day 29 rather than day 32 keeps the penalty at £150 rather than £375.
4. Get the accounts right first time. Rejected accounts do not stop the clock.
5. Pay or appeal promptly. The penalty notice explains how to pay and how to appeal.
6. Fix the cause. Diarise next year's deadline now and agree a date to hand records to your accountant. Our year end checklist helps.

Can you appeal?

You can appeal, but the bar is high. Companies House will only consider an appeal where exceptional, unforeseen circumstances prevented filing, such as a serious illness at a critical time or a fire that destroyed the records shortly before the deadline. Guidance on late filing penalties and appeals lists reasons that are not accepted, including that the company is dormant, that you cannot afford to pay, that your accountant was late, or that you did not know the deadline.

Common mistakes

• Confusing the two deadlines. The 12-month tax return deadline with HMRC is not the 9-month Companies House deadline.
• Assuming a dormant company has nothing to file. It does. See dormant company accounts.
• Filing on the last day. A rejection then leaves no time to correct and resubmit.
• Assuming the accountant carries the responsibility. The legal duty to file stays with the directors.
• Forgetting that lateness doubles. One bad year makes the next one twice as expensive.

How we can help

We prepare and file statutory accounts for small companies, track the deadlines for you and chase the records well ahead of time. Company accounts start from £350 per year on a fixed fee. See our Company Accounts service, view our pricing, or contact us if a deadline is close.