How much is the penalty?
| How late the accounts arrive | Private company penalty |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 month | £150 |
| More than 1 month, up to 3 months | £375 |
| More than 3 months, up to 6 months | £750 |
| More than 6 months | £1,500 |
The penalty doubles if the previous financial year’s accounts were also late. This is separate from HMRC’s penalties for a late Company Tax Return and interest on late Corporation Tax1. Use the calculator linked below for your dates; an already issued notice remains the amount to check.
When an appeal may succeed
Companies House considers exceptional circumstances that prevented timely filing. Explain what happened, the relevant dates, why the company could not arrange another way to file and what happened once the obstacle ended. Keep medical evidence, correspondence and a timeline where they explain the actual delay2.
An accountant being busy, forgetting the deadline or a director not understanding the requirements does not normally establish exceptional circumstances. A rejected set of accounts is not treated as delivered simply because it was sent before the deadline1,2.
Check your company’s dates and set a reminder
Search the Companies House register. Your company page shows its filing dates, what to file next and a reminder you can set.
What to send
Use the appeal route and penalty reference on the notice. Include the company number, accounting period, the penalty reference, a dated explanation and copies of supporting evidence. Keep originals. Do not send irrelevant personal medical or financial information2.
A useful explanation starts: “I appeal penalty [reference] for [company number], accounts ending [date]. The exceptional circumstances were [facts]. They prevented filing between [dates] because [reason]. We filed on [date]. The attached evidence is [list].” Replace every bracket with the company’s facts; this is a structure, not a guaranteed ground of appeal.
File the missing accounts too
Check your company’s filing dates. If the deadline has not yet passed and an exceptional event is preventing filing, read about an extension before it expires. If a Gazette notice has appeared, act on that separately rather than waiting for a penalty appeal1.