DFK UK & Ireland

Companies Act 2006 - Deadlines for Filing Accounts

FROM 6 APRIL 2008

DEADLINES FOR FILING ACCOUNTS
The deadline for filing reports and accounts at Companies House is being brought forward by one month. For established companies that do not extend their accounting period the deadline is set in months from the end of their accounting reference period (usually the balance sheet date).

	Current	New
Private	10 Months	9 Months
Public	7 Months	6 Months

It would not be surprising if there is a further speeding up of filing in later years. The Company Law Review Steering Group originally proposed reducing to 7 months the time for private companies to file their accounts.

To facilitate electronic filing there will be no requirement for an original physical signature on various documents filed at Companies House, such as directors’ reports, audit reports and balance sheets. However, the name of the person signing will need to be given in each case.

LATE FILING PENALTIES
The Companies (Late Filing Penalties) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Filing Periods and Late Filing Penalties) Regulations 2008 come into force on 6 April 2008. The instrument amends, with effect from 1 February 2009, the schedule of penalties which are to be paid by limited companies and limited liability partnership which file their accounts after the time period specified in the Companies Acts.

This instrument also amends the time period within which limited liability partnerships are obliged to file their accounts so as to be the same as for companies under the Companies Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”) and applies the provision in the 2006 Act on how to calculate this period.

(a) it provides for a general increase in the level of penalties to reflect the fact that these have not changed since 1992;

(b) it increases the level of penalty in particular for those who file more than one month late;

(c) it doubles the penalty for any company which also filed late the previous year.

The purpose of amending the 1985 Act is to ensure simplicity for companies and their professional advisers. The new penalties will apply to accounts filed late on or after 1 February 2009, regardless of whether they were filed under the 1985 Act or under the 2006 Act. However, the doubling of penalties will only apply when two consecutive sets of accounts are filed late under the 2006 Act, in other words filings of accounts for financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2008.

It is intended that double penalties will apply for two successive late filings of accounts for financial years beginning on or after 1 October 2008.

You also need to be aware that HMR&C tried unsuccessfully in this instance to change the Corporation Tax filing deadlines so that they coincided with these new Companies Act filing deadlines.

The current table of penalties and the new rules are as follows:

	As was penalty		New Rules Penalty
How late are the accounts delivered	Private Company	PLC	Private Company	PLC
Not more than one month			£150	£750
More than one month but not more than three months			£375	£1,500
Not more than three months	£100	£500
More than three months but not more than six months	£250	£1,000	£750	£3,000
More than six months but not more than twelve months	£500	£2,000	£1,500	£7,500
More than twelve months	£1,000	£5,000

In the first instance it looks as if the fines for late filing have not increased much.

However, it is only when you look carefully that you will discover that they have increased considerably.

The introduction of a new price band for accounts filed after more than one month but not more than three months late affects the charges considerably.

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