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Key dates & penalties
Every recurring UK filing deadline, what it costs to miss, and how long you have before the next one. Counted live from today.
What is due next
Next twelve statutory deadlines
Counted from todayHow each deadline is calculated
Most filing deadlines are set relative to a period end, not to a fixed date in the calendar — which is why two companies rarely share the same year.
| Obligation | Filed at | Deadline | Measured from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual accountsPrivate company | Companies House | 9 months | Accounting reference date |
| Annual accountsFirst set, newly incorporated | Companies House | 21 months | Date of incorporation |
| Confirmation statement | Companies House | 14 days | End of the review period |
| Corporation tax return (CT600) | HMRC | 12 months | End of the accounting period |
| Corporation tax paymentOutside the instalment regime | HMRC | 9 months + 1 day | End of the accounting period |
| VAT return and paymentStandard quarterly, under MTD | HMRC | 1 month + 7 days | End of the VAT period |
| Self Assessment — online | HMRC | 31 January | Fixed date after the tax year |
| Self Assessment — paper | HMRC | 31 October | Fixed date after the tax year |
| Payments on account | HMRC | 31 Jan / 31 Jul | Fixed dates |
| PAYE real time information (FPS) | HMRC | On or before payday | Each pay run |
| PAYE and NIC payment19th if paying by post | HMRC | 22nd monthly | End of the tax month |
| CIS return | HMRC | 19th monthly | Tax month ended on the 5th |
| P60 to employees | Employee | 31 May | Fixed date after the tax year |
| P11D and P11D(b) | HMRC | 6 July | Fixed date after the tax year |
| Class 1A NIC payment19 July if paying by post | HMRC | 22 July | Fixed date after the tax year |
Late filing penalties
Companies House penalties are automatic and issued without a reminder. There is no discretion at the point of issue.
Companies House — accounts filed late
Private company| How late | Relative scale | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1 month | £150 | |
| 1 to 3 months | £375 | |
| 3 to 6 months | £750 | |
| More than 6 months | £1,500 | |
| Late in two consecutive financial yearsThe penalty above is doubled | ×2 |
Self Assessment — return filed late
HMRC| Trigger | Penalty | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Missed the filing date | Fixed, whether or not tax is owed | £100 |
| 3 months late | Daily penalty, up to 90 days | £10 / day |
| 6 months late | Greater of 5% of tax due or £300 | 5% / £300 |
| 12 months late | Greater of 5% of tax due or £300, again | 5% / £300 |
VAT — points and late payment
Periods from 1 Apr 2025| Regime | How it works | Charge |
|---|---|---|
| Late submissionPoints threshold: 5 monthly, 4 quarterly, 2 annual | One point per late return; a penalty once the threshold is reached, and for each late return after it | £200 |
| Late payment — first penalty | Charged on VAT still outstanding at day 15 | 3% |
| Late payment — first penalty, second charge | Charged on VAT still outstanding at day 30 | +3% |
| Late payment — second penalty | Accrues daily from day 31 until paid in full | 10% a year |
| Late payment interest | Runs from day one, separately from the penalties | Base + 4% |
The pattern worth noticing across all three regimes: the first penalty is small and the escalation is steep. A return that is a fortnight late costs very little. The same return six months late costs a multiple of it, and at Companies House a second consecutive late year doubles whatever the penalty would otherwise have been. Deadlines are cheap to hit and expensive to drift past.
Deadlines are a capacity problem, not a diary problem
Nobody misses a filing date because they did not know it. They miss it because the work behind it was not finished in time. That is the part we take.