Ensure you understand your filing deadlines.

Private limited companies have filing deadlines for accounts and tax returns.

ACTION                                                                 DEADLINE

  • First accounts with Companies House       21 months after date incorporated
  • Annual accounts with Companies House   9 months after year end date
  • File company tax return with HMRC          12 months after end of accounting

Period

  • Pay Corporation Tax or                             9 months and 1 day after Corporation
  • Tell HMRC that no corp tax is payable     Tax accounting period ends

The penalties (for private limited companies) for late filing of limited company accounts with Companies House are summarised as follows:

TIME AFTER DEADLINE                          PENALTY

  • Up to 1 month                                               £150
  • 1 to 3 months                                                £375
  • 3 to 6 months                                                £750
  • More than six months                                 £1,500

The penalty is doubled if accounts are late two years in a row.

Limited companies are required to file a confirmation statement (previously an annual return) with Companies House once a year. The company should receive an email alert or a reminder letter when the confirmation statement is due. The due date is usually a year after either:

  • the date the company was incorporated
  • the date the company filed its previous annual return of confirmation statement.

The company can file the confirmation statement up to 14 days after the due date, with no penalty.

Self-assessment tax returns

The deadlines for self-assessment for the year ended 5 April 2018 are as follows:

  • Registering under self-assessment            5 October 2018
  • Filing paper tax return                                31 October 2018 (Wednesday)
  • Filing online tax return                               31 January 2019 (Thursday)
  • Making first payment on account              31 January 2018
  • Making second payment on account         31 July 2018
  • Balance of tax payable                              31 January 2019.

Payments on account as shown above will be due unless:

  • the last self-assessment tax bill was less than £1,000
  • already paid more than 80% of all the tax due (eg via salary and PAYE tax code).

Expenses and benefits for employees

The filing deadlines for benefits for employees for the 2017/18 tax year are as follows:

  • P11D forms to HMRC online                     6 July 2018
  • Give employee copy of P11D form           6 July 2018
  •  P11D(b) form to HMRC online                 6 July 2018
  • Pay class 1A NI on benefits                       19 July 2018 (by cheque)
  • Pay class 1A NI on benefits                       22 July 2018 (other payment method)
  • Pay tax and class 1B NI on                        19 October 2018 (by cheque)
    PAYE settlement agreement
  • Pay tax and class 1B NI on                        22 October 2018 (other payment method)
    PAYE settlement agreement

Article from ACCA In Practice