Did you know that if you are late in filing your company accounts, and you don’t reply to warnings from Companies House, your company could be struck-off the Companies House register and cease to exist within just a few short months?
Creditsafe reports indicate that Companies House is giving only two months after the year end filing date before putting in an active proposal for the company to be struck off. This short amount of time doesn’t leave much leeway for you to lose your company name.
The process
If the Companies Registrar sends at least two formal letters (14 days apart) to the company and doesn’t receive a reply to either letter, they can publish a notice to inform the world that the company will be struck off two months from the date of that notice. This whole process takes only four months in total. It used to take longer, but the system changed in 2015 under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act.
Companies House now starts the process of removing a company from the register much sooner than it used to. If it doesn’t receive a response from a company to three reminders sent over a two month period, it will begin proceedings to strike-off the company.
Example
If your year end is 31 March, you should file your accounts by 31 December. if you don’t, Companies House will send three reminders during January and February. if they don’t receive a reply, the notice to strike off your company will be issued on 2 March, with a ‘commencement date’ for the notice as: 8 March.
HMRC objections
HMRC generally objects to the notice and tries to prevent the company from being struck-off if tax is due, or likely to be due. This is because HMRC can’t recover any tax due from a company that has been struck-off, as then it has no longer exists. This procedure aims to prevent unscrupulous people from trading through a UK company then allowing that company be struck off by ignoring Company House letters. But now, it looks as though HMRC may not have enough time to issue its objection before a company is struck-off.
The bottom line is that, when your accounts are due, you must make sure they’re filed on time. We ensure our clients avoid fines and penalties – and we certainly wouldn’t want to see anyone lose their business because they’ve been tardy with their admin. Let us help you to stay on top – give us a call on 020 8530 0720 to discuss safeguarding your business against Companies House strike-offs. Or email us at social@nordens.co.uk.
