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As of March 2021, 4716126 was the number of companies present on the Companies House Register. The aforesaid figure also includes the companies that were in the process of liquidation and dissolution.

In case you are wondering what exactly Companies House register, stop worrying. Companies House is a formal register that entails a list of all companies in the UK. The information present of the Companies House is available to a wide array of users.

All limited companies are bound by law to deliver confirmation statements and annual accounts to the Companies House. The limited companies have to do this practice even whether they trade or not. And this includes dormant companies, too.

What is a dormant company?

A company is characterized as dormant if it has not carried out any sort of business activity within the given time period. It is pertinent here to mention that the term “dormant” has different meanings for Company Tax Returns, Corporation Tax, and annual filings of the companies for the Companies House.

Fortunately, if a company has told HM Revenue & Customs that they are dormant, then they are not required to file another Company Tax Return or pay Corporation Tax until they receive further notice to do so. On the other hand, a limited company has to file annual accounts and confirmation statements with Companies House even if they are dormant for Corporation Tax.

As far as Companies House is concerned, it characterises a company “dormant” if the latter had no significant accounting transactions within the given time period.

Please not that the following do not fall into the significant transactions:

  • Penalties for the late filing of accounts
  • Filing fees paid to the Companies House
  • Money that has been paid for shares when a company was being incorporated

Any company that has an active dormant status and also qualifies for the title “small company”, then it enjoys immunity to not include auditor’s reports while filing dormant accounts.

If you think that Companies House does not require accounts from a dormant company just like they are not needed by HM Revenue & Customs, then you are at fault. This is because Companies House aims to inspire confidence through trust and transparency in their data and registers, hence, the accuracy of the information becomes indispensable.

If your company has a dormant status but it initiates trading, then, you are not legally bound to inform Companies House about the same. Why? Because the next set of non-dormant accounts will themselves show that a company is no longer dormant. On the other hand, if you want to dissolve a dormant company, all you need to do is to close the dormant company using an online service. The cost of filing confirmation status for the dormant companies is just £13.

Dormant companies can file their confirmation statement online for a fee of £13.

If you need any further help, you can reach out to our tax advisors at tax@ibissandco. If you need 15-Minute Free Consultation, click here.

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