Key dates for Limited Company directors throughout the financial year
Your responsibilities and what you need to file with HMRC and Companies House
Directors of Limited Companies have legal responsibilities, such as filing / submitting various forms and returns to Companies House and HMRC throughout the financial year. If you’re new to running your own company you may be unsure as to what needs to be done and when, and it’s easy to get confused and miss deadlines.
In this blog we’ve taken a look at all the key dates a Limited Company director needs to be aware of.
Limited Company director responsibilities
As a director you have the legal responsibility to run your company, and are bound by a statutory code of practice and have certain legal obligations which you must meet.
When you form a Limited Company you create a separate legal entity from yourself, which contains its own legal framework and accountabilities, and its profits and losses belong to the company. Therefore decisions you make must be to the benefit of the company, and this includes ensuring the correct paperwork is filed correctly and on time.
What do you need to file?
Accounting reference date and accounting periods for filing information – HMRC and Companies House set dates for filing information in different ways:
When your company is first incorporated Companies House will issue it an ‘Accounting Reference Date’. The first Accounting Reference Date is the very last day of the month in which the first anniversary of incorporation falls. So the Accounting Reference Date for the first set of Company Accounts you’ll file will usually have a longer period than 12 months. For example, if you were to incorporate your company on December 7th 2024, your Accounting Reference Date would most likely be 31st December 2025.
For your Company Tax Return and payment of Corporation Tax, you’ll be provided an accounting period by HMRC, which will begin once you’ve started trading, and will end on your Accounting Reference Date.
Confirmation Statement – contains information about your company, the director/s, and any other administrative arrangements. It must also contain information about any Persons of Significant Control that are involved in your business. Confirmation Statements are completed once a year, and you’re able to file more than one per year if your company information has changed. You have a period of 14 days each year to file your Confirmation Statement.
Corporation Tax Payment – You’ll need to pay to HMRC if your company made a profit during the accounting period. This must be paid nine months and one day after the accounting period. If you ever change your company year end, or in your first year, there are slightly different dates that can apply.
Form CT600 – once a year you must file a CT600 form with HMRC, which includes details of your company’s income, minus any tax allowances or business expenses. What’s left is your taxable profit, and this will be used to calculate the total amount of Corporation Tax your company is due to pay. Your company’s first Corporation Tax return is due 12 months after your first yearend, and then within 12 months each year of your Accounting Period end. As with the corporation tax payment, the first year end and any variances on your year end can mean slightly different deadlines, so speak to your accountant for clarification.
National Insurance – must be paid if your salary exceeds the Primary Threshold of £12,570 per year, or £1,048 per month / £242 a week.
If your pay exceeds the NI Primary Threshold you’ll have to pay Employee’s NI, and should you pay yourself or any employees or directors above the secondary threshold, your company must also pay Employer’s NI.
If you run your company’s payroll monthly you will usually pay your NI on a quarterly basis also.
P60 – shows the total amount you’ve been paid through your Limited Company as employment income, including the amount of tax you’ve paid in that tax year. You must keep your P60 safe for:
- Completing your Self Assessment
- Reclaiming any overpaid National Insurance or Income Tax
- Mortgage or loan applications
- Tax credits application
If you have any employees, you must give them their P60 by May 31st each year.
P11D – summarises the value of benefits in kind given to employees and directors in a tax year – 6 April to 5 April. If you provide benefits to yourself, employees or directors which are not included within the payroll then you must file a P11D with HMRC by 6th July following the end of the tax year and keep a personal copy.
PAYE – information is submitted to HMRC monthly.
Payment on account – You must make the following payments on account every year, if you owe any personal tax:
- 1st payment – must be made on account by 31 January
- 2nd payment – must be made on account by 31 July
If the total amount of outstanding tax from the previous tax year exceeded £1,000 (and the tax due is not mostly collected at source), and you must pay that amount plus a contribution towards the new tax year, based on an estimate which HMRC will provide to you.
You must then make a second payment for the new tax year by 31 July.
Self Assessment – As a director of your Limited Company, you must submit an annual Self Assessment, detailing your personal income and allowances to HMRC. It must include every detail from your employment income, any dividends you paid to yourself from your company, and any other sources of income such as rental or sole trader income.
This must be returned by 31 January each year, but you are able to file as soon as you have your P60 from the correct tax year.
Statutory Accounts / Yearend Accounts – your company’s finances are made public annually, in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and accounting standards. You must submit your company’s Income Statement, Statement of Financial Position and other information in accounting notes. We ensure the correct disclosures are made to both HMRC and Companies House so you don’t over-disclosure on the public record. Your company’s very first accounting period is set to finish the last day of the month one year after it has been incorporated. Your first set of accounts are then due nine months after your company’s first yearend (or within 21 months of the company’s incorporation date, should the first accounting period be longer than 12 months).
Submitting your yearend accounts to Companies House is calculated to the exact day, so ensure you don’t miss it!
VAT Return – if your company is VAT registered you must calculate all of the VAT you’ve added to sales for the past year, and then deduct the VAT paid on business expenses.
You must keep your VAT records digitally, and use compatible Making Tax Digital (MTD) software to submit it.
Key dates to remember
If this seems like a lot of information to remember, you’d be right! There’s lots to do and ensure gets done, let alone run your company and complete your contracts. Below we’ve collated all the information to show you what a typical year might look like if you were to incorporate your Limited Company on 1 January. You can also download a copy to print out and keep, to help you remember what’s due and when:
There’s lots to do and remember – let us help you out
When you’re busy running your own Limited Company, the last thing you need is to try and remember when certain things are due and what you need to do. So why not enlist the services of an accountant who can keep on track of everything for you? Here at Vantage Accounting our team of expert business accountants are on your side, championing your money and ensuring you’re making the most from your hard earnt take home pay. If this sounds like the type of support and guidance you need form your accountant, get in touch today.
Note: All the information and advice in this blog post was correct at the time of writing.