What are my filing dates for a year ending 31 December 2026?

The first date has nothing to do with the year end. A confirmation statement follows the date your company was formed. Filing one early moves the dates that follow.

Each review period lasts 12 months, and the first starts on the day your company was formed. You then have 14 days after each review period ends to file. Bramley's current review period ends on Wednesday 10 March 2027, so its statement is due by Wednesday 24 March 2027.

If it is not filed by then, from Thursday 25 March the company and any director at fault commit an offence. On conviction, that means a fine, and a daily fine while it goes on. Companies House may also issue a financial penalty and strike the company off its register.

For filing early and weekend deadlines, see What is a confirmation statement and when is mine due?

A private company has 9 months after its year end to get its accounts to Companies House. When the year ends on the last day of a month, the deadline is the last day of the ninth month after it.

Our working: nine months after December is September, and September ends on the 30th. So Bramley's accounts are due by Thursday 30 September 2027. They count only when Companies House receives them in the right format. The day Priya sends them does not count.

If they have not arrived by then, from Friday 1 October 2027 a penalty falls on the company. It is £150 if up to 1 month late, rising to £1,500 after 6 months. It is doubled if last year's accounts were late too.

See your accounts deadline each year for the exact-day count and extra time, and late filing penalties for every penalty step.

Corporation Tax is normally due 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period. When the period ends on the last day of a month, that is the first day of the tenth month after it.

For Bramley, that is Friday 1 October 2027, the day after the accounts deadline. Interest on any tax still unpaid starts on Saturday 2 October, not 1 October. HMRC charges no interest for the due date itself, so it counts from the day after.

See when to pay Corporation Tax for instalments and ways to pay, and paying late for how interest works.

Your company must file a Corporation Tax return if HMRC sends it a notice to deliver one. The return is normally due 12 months after the end of the accounting period it covers. For Bramley, that is Friday 31 December 2027. It can be later if HMRC's notice to file arrives less than three months before 31 December 2027.

A late return costs more the longer it waits. Our working counts the last day of each period as still inside it, so each step starts the next day:

• From Saturday 1 January 2028: £200, or £1,000 if it is the third late return in a row.

• From Saturday 1 April 2028, more than 3 months late: £400 instead of £200, or £2,000 if late three times in a row.

• From Saturday 1 July 2028, still not in: an extra penalty of 10% of any tax unpaid on that day. It applies if the return is not in within 18 months of the year end, unless a late notice gives a later deadline. Those 18 months end on Friday 30 June 2028.

• From Monday 1 January 2029: 20% instead of 10%, if the return arrives on or after this date.

File well before these dates. The law raised the £200, £400, £1,000 and £2,000 amounts for returns due on or after 1 April 2026, which includes this one. The company can appeal a late return penalty if it has a reasonable excuse, but it must file the return first.

See when your return is due, late return penalties and when to tell HMRC your company is active.

Had Bramley kept a 31 March year end, its year to 31 March 2027 would move three dates 3 months later. The accounts would be due on Friday 31 December 2027, the tax on Saturday 1 January 2028 and the return on Friday 31 March 2028.

The confirmation statement would stay on Wednesday 24 March 2027. It follows the date the company was formed.

None of the dates in the table falls on a weekend or bank holiday in England and Wales. A 31 March year end would put the tax on a Saturday. Payment would then have to reach HMRC by Friday 31 December 2027, unless paid by Faster Payments. Interest on unpaid tax would count from Sunday 2 January 2028.

For how a new company's year end is set and shortened, see When are my first accounts due at Companies House?