Partner David Few, head of our Corporate team, explains how the confirmation statement has replaced the annual return for companies.
The confirmation statement, which has been introduced to replace the annual return, needs to be filed at least once every 12 months. Whereas companies had a 28 day period from the made up date to file an annual return, this period of grace, known as the review period, has been reduced to 14 days. The first time a confirmation statement is filed with Companies House, the company will need to provide the following information using the 62 page form CS01:
- Company details
- Confirmation date
- Principal business activities or standard industrial classification (SIC) (Part 1 of CS01)
- Statement of capital (Part 2 of CS01)
- Trading status of shares and exemption from keeping a register of people with significant control (PSC) (Part 3 of CS01)
- Shareholder information (Part 4 of CS01)
- Information about the PSC’s (Part 5 of CS01)
Subsequent filing of the CS01 will be a much simpler process, involving a 2 page document which will be an exercise in checking and confirming that the information held at Companies House is still accurate and up to date. The fee for filing the confirmation statement is the same as the annual return filing fee, which is £13 for online filing or £40 for postal filing.
Any changes to the company throughout the year must be notified to Companies House by filing the relevant page of the continuation sheet of form CS01. Companies can file as many amendments as they like during the year, but will only need to pay one annual filing fee.
Blandy & Blandy LLP provides a Company Secretarial service to maintain the PSC Register and submit the relevant information on an annual basis via the confirmation statement.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
