How to manage a dormant company
Understand what a dormant company is and how to maintain it correctly with HMRC and Companies House
What is a dormant company?
A company is dormant if it has had no significant accounting transactions during a financial year. This means no sales or business income, purchases or expenses, or employees or payroll activities.
However, certain transactions are allowed without affecting dormant status, such as payment for shares when the company is first incorporated, and filing fees paid to Companies House.
Notifying HMRC
If your company is dormant and has never traded - or has stopped trading - you should inform HMRC here.
Once HMRC confirms your company is dormant, you will generally not need to file Corporation Tax returns.
Filing requirements with Companies House
1. Annual Accounts
You are required to file dormant company accounts each year, which are a simplified form of annual accounts.
Not sure how to proceed with this filing? Check out our Dormant Company Accounts Service.
2. Confirmation Statement
You must also file a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months,
Get your filing sorted quickly with our Confirmation Statement Service.
What happens if you start trading?
If your dormant company becomes active, you must notify HMRC within 3 months of starting business activity and register for Corporation Tax.