The Companies Act 2006 will implement the following changes in April 2007:

• Changes to filing deadlines and increased penalties.
  All UK companies have to file accounts. Prior to the April 2007 amendments UK companies had to file their accounts within 10 months of their year end. Therefore a company’s year end was March 2008 the company accounts were due in January 2009. If the accounts were not filed on time then a penalty of £100 would be issued. This increases to £250 when they are more than 3 months late, £500 when more than 6 months late and £1000 if over 12 months late.For accounting periods beginning on or after 6th April 2008 the filing deadline is now 9 months after the year end.
• Penalties have also been increased for late filing of accounts; this will affect all companies whose accounts are filed after 31 January 2009.The new penalties are significantly higher than at present –Not more than one month late- £150
  More than one month late but less than three – £375
  More than three months late but not more than six – £750
  More than six months late – £1500Where a company has failed to file accounts on time in a previous year then the penalty is doubled.
• Section 1281 of the Companies Act, which amends Part 9 of the Enterprise Act 2002 to give the Secretary of State the power to make an order enabling public authorities to disclose information to be used in civil proceedings or otherwise for the purpose of establishing, enforcing or defending legal rights.