Confirmation statement for a UK private limited company
United Kingdom companies file a Confirmation Statement (formerly called the Annual Return) with Companies House under CA 2006 s. 853A. The fee is £13 online or £40 paper, due within 14 days of the confirmation date (the anniversary of incorporation or of the last statement).
| CA 2006 s. 853A | Confirmation statement required |
|---|---|
| Filing authority | Companies House |
| Form | CS01 Confirmation Statement (online via WebFiling) |
| Deadline | Within 14 days of the confirmation date |
| Filing fee | £13 online; £40 paper |
| Late consequences | Striking off and director liability (CA 2006 s. 1000) |
| Restoration | CA 2006 s. 1024-1034 (within 6 years for most companies) |
- Filed with Companies House through the WebFiling portal at companieshouse.gov.uk
- Fee £13 online; due within 14 days of the confirmation date each year
- Confirms registered office, directors, secretary (if any), PSCs, share capital, and SIC codes
- Replaced the older Annual Return form (the 'AR01') in 2016
- Striking off under CA 2006 s. 1000 follows sustained non-filing; restoration available for six years
What CA 2006 s. 853A requires
Section 853A of the Companies Act 2006 requires every UK company to file a Confirmation Statement with Companies House at least once every 12 months. The confirmation date is the anniversary of incorporation (or of the last filed statement), and the statement must be filed within 14 days of that date. The fee is £13 if filed online through Companies House WebFiling, or £40 by paper.
The Confirmation Statement confirms several items: the registered office address, the directors and any company secretary, the people with significant control (PSCs), the company's share capital and shareholders, the SIC codes, and the statement of capital. The PSC register requirement (under CA 2006 Part 21A) makes the UK Confirmation Statement broader in scope than most other jurisdictions' annual returns. Beneficial ownership transparency is integral to the UK regime.
The Confirmation Statement replaced the Annual Return in 2016
The Confirmation Statement (Form CS01) replaced the older Annual Return (Form AR01) in 2016 as part of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 reforms. The change introduced the 'check-and-confirm' approach: instead of restating all company information each year, the company confirms that the information held by Companies House is accurate, or files updates inline. This makes the routine filing cheaper and faster.
Striking off and restoration
If a UK company fails to file Confirmation Statements (or accounts), Companies House may strike the company off the register under CA 2006 s. 1000. The Registrar provides notice before striking off, but the timeline can be relatively short. Once struck off, the company's assets vest in the Crown under the doctrine of bona vacantia. Restoration is available within six years under CA 2006 s. 1024 (administrative restoration) or s. 1029 (court order restoration), depending on the circumstances.
What's distinctive about the UK
The UK regime is among the most rigorous in the common-law world: the PSC register, the centralized Companies House public record, and the low filing fee combine to create a transparent and inexpensive ongoing-compliance regime. The 14-day filing window is tight by Canadian or US standards (where windows of 30 to 90 days are typical), which means UK companies need calendared reminders. Late filing also creates director liability for late-filing penalties (£150 to £1,500 depending on lateness), separate from the company's obligations.
Octelligence tracks the annual return deadline alongside every other corporate obligation, prompts ahead of the due date, and stores the filed return in the minute book so the corporate registry record matches the internal record.
See Digital Corporate RecordsFilings calendar, jurisdiction-aware deadlines, and a record of every return filed in the corporate records.