When your filings are actually due

A UK limited company has three recurring obligations, and they do not share a deadline. Each is measured from your accounting reference date, which is the last day of your financial year.

Annual accounts to Companies House: 9 months after the period end Corporation tax PAYMENT to HMRC: 9 months and 1 day after the period end Company tax return (CT600) to HMRC: 12 months after the period end

The ordering catches people out every year. Corporation tax is payable three months before the return that calculates it is due. You are expected to work out what you owe, pay it, and file the paperwork afterwards. Waiting for your accountant to finish the return before paying is a late payment, and interest runs from the due date.

A confirmation statement is separate again. It is due at least once every 12 months, within 14 days of the end of your review period, and it confirms your registered details rather than reporting any numbers.

A company's first accounts run from incorporation, not from the start of a tax year, and if they cover more than 12 months they are due 21 months after the date of incorporation or 3 months after the accounting reference date, whichever is longer.

Three cases that normally need an accountant are worked out here rather than assumed away:

• A first period longer than 12 months. A corporation tax period cannot exceed 12 months, so a long first period is split in two. You get two payment dates and a single CT600 deadline, which is what HMRC expects.
• A changed year end. Nothing to tell us. Every date is measured from the accounting reference date on the register today, so a shortened or extended year is already in the answer.
• A newly incorporated company. The first period is dated from incorporation. If Companies House has not published your accounting date yet, the corporation tax dates are left out rather than guessed.

Take a company with a 31 March 2027 year end.

• 1 January 2028 - corporation tax is due. Nine months and one day after 31 March 2027.
• 31 December 2027 - annual accounts are due at Companies House. Nine months after the period end, so this one actually falls a day before the tax payment.
• 31 March 2028 - the CT600 is due at HMRC. Twelve months after the period end.

So the sequence a founder experiences is: file accounts, pay tax the next day, then file the tax return three months later. If you plan cash around the CT600 deadline you will be three months late paying, and HMRC charges interest from 1 January regardless of when the return arrives.

Companies House and HMRC run entirely separate penalty regimes. Missing both deadlines means two penalty tracks running at once, and neither reduces the other.

Companies House penalties double if you file late two years running. Late filing also puts a public marker on your company record, which shows up in supplier and lender credit checks.

Source: GOV.UK: accounts and tax returns for private limited companies, checked 2026-08-08.

The dates above are the ordinary case. These three situations move them:

• Profits above £1.5m. Corporation tax is then paid in quarterly instalments starting during the accounting period, not nine months after it. Above £20m the instalments start earlier still. The payment dates here assume you are below that.
• Trading that started after incorporation. Your first corporation tax period is dated from incorporation, because the register does not publish the date a company starts trading. If you began trading later, the tax dates move back and you have slightly longer than shown. The rows say so where it applies.
• Dormant is not the same as inactive. A dormant company files simpler accounts and no CT600. Getting the classification wrong creates a filing you did not know you owed.

Nine months and one day after the end of your accounting period, for any company whose profits keep it out of quarterly instalments. A company with a 31 March year end must have paid by 1 January. This catches people out because the CT600 return that reports the tax is not due until twelve months after the period end, three months LATER than the payment. The money comes before the paperwork, and interest runs from the day after the payment deadline.

Nine months after your accounting reference date for a private limited company. A first set of accounts covering more than 12 months is due 21 months after incorporation or 3 months after the accounting reference date, whichever is longer. Rather than recompute it, this tool reads the exact date Companies House holds for your company, because the registrar is the authority on its own deadline and a company that has shortened its period or filed early will not match the general rule. The late filing penalty is automatic: it starts at 150 pounds and doubles if you were also late the year before.

One calendar month and seven days after the end of each VAT period, for both the return and the payment. In practice that is the seventh day of the second month after your quarter ends, so a quarter ending 31 December is due by 7 February and one ending 30 November is due by 7 January. HMRC need cleared funds by that date, so a bank transfer on the day itself can already be late.

This is the one that is genuinely dangerous. A late statement can bring a financial penalty, because not filing is a criminal offence for which directors can be personally fined, and Companies House can also begin the process of striking the company off the register, and a struck off company has its bank accounts frozen and its assets passed to the Crown. The statement itself takes about ten minutes and costs 50 pounds online. It simply confirms that your registered office, directors, shareholders and people with significant control are still what the register says they are.

Yes, if you subscribe rather than download. Subscribing gives your calendar a link that it re-reads every few hours, and each time it does we look your company up on the Companies House register again. So when you file your accounts and your next deadline moves, the date in your diary moves with it, and next year's dates appear without you coming back here. A downloaded file is a snapshot of today and will silently go out of date.

No. Both are optional and you can skip either one. If you are not VAT registered, no VAT dates go in your calendar at all. If you do not run a payroll, no PAYE dates go in. You will still get your annual accounts, corporation tax payment, CT600 and confirmation statement, which every UK limited company has regardless.

From incorporation you must keep proper accounting records (money in and out, assets and liabilities). Your first Companies House accounts usually cover more than 12 months. For a private company, if those first accounts cover more than 12 months, the filing deadline is the later of 21 months from incorporation or 3 months after the accounting reference date. Corporation Tax periods cannot exceed 12 months, so a long first period is often split into two CT returns with two payment dates. Day-one setup that founders regret skipping: a dedicated business bank account, receipt capture from day one, and a clear director loan / salary / dividend trail.

No. For most companies with taxable profits up to £1.5 million, you pay Corporation Tax 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period. The Company Tax Return (CT600) is due 12 months after the period ends. So the money is usually due about three months before the return. Larger companies (profits over £1.5 million) generally pay by quarterly instalments instead. Missing the payment date can mean interest even if the CT600 is still on time.

Late accounts trigger an automatic civil penalty on the company. For a private company or LLP: £150 if not more than 1 month late, £375 if more than 1 month but not more than 3 months, £750 if more than 3 months but not more than 6 months, and £1,500 if more than 6 months. The penalty doubles if accounts were also filed late in successive financial years. Persistent failure can also lead to prosecution of directors and, in extreme cases, strike-off risk. After the first year, private company accounts are normally due 9 months after the accounting reference date.