No More Annual Returns!

annual return

From the 30th of June 2016 companies will no longer be required to submit annual returns to Companies House. 

Currently a company is required to submit an annual return to Companies House once every 12 months reporting on:

  • Company Officers
  • Shareholding structure
  • Share capital
  • Addresses

Many business owners feel the burden of endless form filling and reports so for many people they will be breathing a sigh of relief.  However they are being replaced with a new form called the “confirmation statement”.

Why Is This Changing?

This change is part of the governments process reduce the administrative burden of business.  The new confirmation statement is designed to be much simpler. 

If there have been no changes to the constitution of the company since the previous statement then companies will simply submit a declaration stating this fact.  Comparatively for an annual return a company would have to re-declare all of the companies details each time even if there have been no changes.

What Changes Do I Need To Be Aware Of?

A key change with confirmation statements is that unlike annual returns, confirmation statements don’t have a fixed filing date.  This means that companies can submit the statements at any time they like as long as no more than 12 months has lapsed in-between the statements. 

If you are submitting your first confirmation statement then it should not be more than 12 months later the date of your last submitted annual return.

Is There Still A Charge?

Currently the annual return costs £13.  The new confirmation statement will have a charge but this has not yet been confirmed.  However the difference is that you can make as many changes as you like in a year and only pay once.

If you are a client of ours then we include filing your annual return in all of our packages so when Companies House switches over to the confirmation statement you have nothing to worry about as we will take care of submitting the new confirmation statement for you. 

If you have any questions about the changes coming your way the check out our contact page and drop us a line.

Emily
Xero certified Accountant and ICAEW Chartered Accountant

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