February 2009 sees amendments made to Late Filing Penalties

The Companies Act 2006 requires all companies to deliver annual accounts to Companies House by the due date. Failure to deliver these accounts on time may lead to an administration penalty.

Late filing penalties were first applied in 1992 to encourage company directors to file their accounts on time.  These penalties have now been increased to account for inflation since they were first introduced.  In addition the rules that decide what penalty shall apply have been changed. The main changed to late filing penalties are -

• An increase in the size of the financial penalties
• A faster rate of increase in the penalty dependent on how late the accounts are filed
• Penalties will be doubled for any company that also filed accounts late in a previous year

Penalties are determined by how late are the accounts are delivered and by type of company, private or public.

Private Company (Ltd)
Not more than one month £ 150
More than one month but not more than three months £375
More than three months but not more than six months £750
More than six months £1500

Public company (PLC)
Not more than one month £750
More than one month but not more than three months £1500
More than three months but not more than six months £3000
More than six months £7500

Fines will be doubled for companies filing late two years in a row