In the midst of a global pandemic, when a number of businesses are focusing on survival, the last thing on many directors' minds is meeting Companies House filing deadlines in respect of accounts, confirmation statements and other routine filings.
As failure to make such filings can, in some instances, give rise to fines and other penalties, the Government has introduced The Companies etc. (Filing Requirements) (Temporary Modifications) Regulations 2020 which came into force on 27 June 2020. These regulations have been introduced to temporarily extend a number of the deadlines which companies must abide by when filing documents at Companies House. The extensions to the filing deadlines are expected to expire on 5 April 2021 by virtue of provisions set out in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.
The extensions relate to the following filings:
Confirmation statements
The period for filing a confirmation statement has been extended from 14 days from the end of the confirmation period (being the 12 months from when the company last filed its confirmation statement) to 42 days.
Accounts
The period that applies to the filing of accounts has been extended by 3 months but, as was the case before, the time period depends on the type of company. For a private limited company, the filing deadline has been extended from 9 months to 12 months.
Legal charges
For registrable charges created on or after 6 June 2020, the period for filing these at Companies House has been increased to 31 days. This 31 day period will start the day after the date the charge was created.
Event-driven filings
In respect of filings that follow a particular event such as filings dealing with changes to the directors, persons with significant control or the company's registered office, these will now need to be filed within 42 days of the relevant event, rather than 14 days.
These deadline extensions apply to deadlines that fall between 27 June 2020 and 5 April 2021. Outside of this timeframe, an extension has to be applied for. If you have already applied for an extension, the extension afforded by the regulation will apply to the Company's original filing deadline.
These filing extensions should provide many companies with the breathing space to focus on the running of the business.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
