Dormant Company Accounts Filing in Twickenham

Dormant company accounts are the annual accounts filed at Companies House by a company that meets the dormancy criteria for the relevant accounting period. In simple terms, they confirm that the company has not had significant accounting transactions during that period, and they are usually much shorter than the accounts of a company that has been trading. They still need to be prepared in line with the applicable Companies House requirements and filed as part of the company's annual accounts obligation, rather than instead of it.

For Companies House purposes, a company is generally dormant when it has had no significant accounting transactions in the accounting period. A significant accounting transaction is essentially any entry that should appear in the company's accounting records. Payments such as bank charges, or money received that is not a share subscription, can count as transactions and may mean the company is not dormant for that period. Because the test looks at what actually happened in the accounts, the position can change from one year to the next, so it is worth checking each period rather than assuming the previous year's treatment still applies.

In most cases, yes. A company that is dormant for Companies House purposes will generally still have an annual accounts filing obligation unless it has been formally dissolved or a specific rule applies to its situation. Dormancy changes what the accounts look like, not necessarily whether they are due. Directors should check the company's filing position for the period in question, as the requirements depend on the company's circumstances and the applicable Companies House rules.

The confirmation statement is a separate Companies House filing from the annual accounts, and a dormant company will usually still need to file one. It confirms that the information Companies House holds about the company, such as the registered office, directors, shareholders and share capital, is up to date. Filing dormant company accounts does not satisfy the confirmation statement requirement, and filing a confirmation statement does not replace the accounts. They are two distinct obligations with different deadlines and different content, so both should be tracked separately.

No. Companies House dormancy and HMRC Corporation Tax dormancy are separate concepts, assessed against different criteria by different bodies. A company can be dormant for Companies House and not dormant for Corporation Tax, or the reverse. Filing dormant accounts with Companies House does not automatically notify HMRC that the company is dormant, and it does not by itself change the company's Corporation Tax position. Directors who want to confirm their Corporation Tax status should deal with HMRC directly or take separate advice on that point.

That depends on the company's position with HMRC rather than its Companies House dormancy alone. Corporation Tax Returns (CT600s) are separate HMRC obligations and are not filed as part of dormant company accounts. Where HMRC has confirmed that a company is dormant for Corporation Tax purposes, the company may not need to complete a return for that period, but HMRC can still issue a notice to deliver a return or ask for information, and obligations can arise again if the company becomes active. It is worth checking the company's HMRC status rather than assuming it follows automatically from Companies House dormancy.

Typically, we need basic company details such as the company name, registered number and registered office, the accounting period in question, details of the directors, and confirmation of the company's activity during the period. We also need to understand whether anything happened that could count as a significant accounting transaction, including bank charges, payments, receipts or changes in the company's financial position. If there is any doubt about whether the company qualifies as dormant for the period, that is best discussed before the accounts are prepared, as it can affect which filing route is appropriate.

Yes. A professional service can review the company's circumstances, determine whether dormant company accounts are appropriate for the period, prepare the accounts in the required format and submit them to Companies House on the company's behalf. This can be particularly useful where directors are unsure whether dormant company accounts are still required, are unclear how dormancy for Companies House differs from dormancy for HMRC, or simply want the annual filing handled alongside the separate confirmation statement.