The UK Government has offered support to businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak. The help has come through grants, interest-free loans and paying employee’s wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

As part of their commitment to UK businesses the government has offered a three month extension on annual accounts submissions to Companies House.

Under current law, all UK businesses must submit their accounts to Companies House on an annual basis. Failure to do so can result in penalties, such as fines being issued to the offending company.

Although the new Government measures alter the ‘status quo’, the responsibility of applying for the extension lie with individual businesses – the extension is not automatically issued to every business. Failure to apply for the extension and submitting your accounts late, may still incur a penalty to your business.

From what we can see, Companies House appear to be taking a sympathetic stance, in the current turbulent times. It is our understanding that they are accepting the majority of extension applications they have been receiving, particularly if the request directly relates to an issue arising from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Where to apply for the annual accounts extension

Applications for an annual accounts extension can be done on the government website and typically takes around 15 minutes to complete.

Companies House have stated that they will be regularly reviewing and updating their policy. More guidance and the most up to date information can be found on the UK Government website here.

Legal support for businesses

For more information about filing your annual accounts or if you require any legal assistance as a result of COVID-19, please contact a member of our Corporate team on 01743 285 888 or email us enquiries@terry-jones.co.uk