The director’s compliance calendar

Take your accounting reference date (ARD) and count forward:

• Year end + 9 months — accounts due at Companies House (penalties £150–£1,500, automatic)
• Year end + 9 months and 1 day — Corporation Tax payment due (interest runs from day one)
• Year end + 12 months — CT600 Company Tax Return due (£100 penalty, escalating)

First year after incorporation is different: first accounts are due 21 months after incorporation, and the first period usually needs two tax returns.

How the accounts deadlines work in detail →

• Confirmation statement — every 12 months from incorporation (or your last statement), filed within 14 days of the review period ending. No fine, but it’s an offence and the classic strike-off trigger.

Confirmation statements explained →

• Monthly, 22nd — PAYE/NI paid to HMRC electronically (if you run payroll); RTI submissions on or before each payday
• Quarterly — VAT return and payment, 1 month and 7 days after each VAT quarter (VAT-registered companies, filed under MTD)
• 31 May — P60s to every employee (including you as director)
• 6 July — P11D benefits-in-kind reporting; Class 1A NI by 22 July
• 5 October — register for Self Assessment if you need to file for the first time
• 31 January — director’s personal Self Assessment return and tax payment

Some things must be reported to Companies House when they happen, typically within 14 days: appointing or removing a director, changing the registered office, changes to people with significant control (PSCs) — and share allotments within a month. Dividends need board minutes and vouchers at the time they’re paid, not reconstructed at year end.

1. Month 1–2 after year end: books to your accountant; accounts and CT600 drafted while the year is fresh
2. Month 3: approve and file accounts + return; diarise the tax payment
3. Month 9: pay Corporation Tax (already known since month 3)
4. Confirmation statement date: check the register, file, done
5. January: personal Self Assessment — painless if dividends were documented during the year

Prefer all of this handled — dates tracked, reminders chased, filings made? Call 0114 327 1480.

Everything we file for companies →