How to file dormant company accounts yourself, and deal with Corporation Tax

What you need to file

It focuses on a straightforward UK private company limited by shares that has never traded. If your company used to trade, has outstanding balances from trading, or belongs to a group, check the correct accounts format before using the simple filing route below.

There are three separate jobs:

Filing dormant accounts does not, by itself, tell HMRC that your company is dormant. Companies House explains its annual filing requirements here, and HMRC explains when tax returns are still required here.

Part 1: Check that your company is dormant

Step 1: Check the whole accounting period

Companies House treats a company as dormant when it has had no significant accounting transactions during the period. A transaction can count even if it is small or the company has made no sales.

Check your bank statements and company records for payments, receipts and amounts owed. Bank charges, software subscriptions, purchases and payments to an accountant can prevent the company from qualifying. An empty bank account alone does not prove dormancy.

Certain transactions are disregarded, including the original subscribers' payment for shares, specified Companies House fees and late accounts filing penalties. See the Companies House dormancy rules.

HMRC has a separate test. A company that has never started trading, or has stopped trading and has no other income, is usually dormant for Corporation Tax. Bank interest or rental income needs checking even if there are no sales. Read HMRC's trading and non-trading guidance.

If the company traded for part of the year, you cannot describe that whole year as dormant. Prepare accounts covering what actually happened, and deal with any tax return for the trading period.

Step 2: Check that the simple accounts route fits

The AA02 dormant accounts template is intended for a company limited by shares that has never traded and whose only recorded transaction is the issue of subscriber shares. It has further exclusions, including subsidiary companies. It is not a general template for every inactive company. Check the AA02 eligibility guidance.

If your company has previously traded, do not copy the share-only example below over its old balances. It may still qualify to file dormant accounts for a later period, but those accounts must reflect its actual assets and liabilities.

Part 2: File your accounts at Companies House

Step 3: Find the year end and deadline

Search for your company on the Companies House register. On its overview page, write down:

• Your company number.
• The date the next accounts must be made up to: your balance sheet date.
• The date those accounts are due.

The balance sheet date and filing deadline are different. Use the year end in the accounts, not the date you submit them.

For a private company, later annual accounts are normally due nine months after the year end. First accounts are normally due 21 months after incorporation. Use the actual deadline shown on the register, particularly if you have changed the year end. Check the filing deadlines.

Step 4: Gather your records and access details

Have these ready:

• Your company name and number.
• Companies House WebFiling access through GOV.UK One Login.
• Your company's six-character authentication code.
• The incorporation documents showing the number, class and nominal value of the original shares.
• Evidence of whether the shareholders paid for those shares.
• Last year's accounts, if you have already filed a set.

The company authentication code is different from the personal code issued after identity verification. If you have lost it, request a reminder through WebFiling. Companies House posts it to the registered office; allow up to 10 working days. Request or manage your authentication code.

Step 5: Open the dormant accounts service

Open File dormant accounts with Companies House and follow the link to WebFiling.

Sign in through GOV.UK One Login. If you have an older WebFiling account, follow the prompts to connect it. Select your company, or add it using its number and authentication code, then choose the dormant accounts filing option. Check the company name before entering any figures. See the current WebFiling sign-in guidance.

As at October 2026, you can still file these accounts through the Companies House online service. Companies House says commercial software will become mandatory from 1 April 2028. Check the current accounts filing arrangements.

Step 6: Enter the year end and share figures

Enter the balance sheet date you recorded in Step 3. Use the company's actual share records for the figures.

For example, assume the company was formed with one ordinary share worth £1, has never traded, and has no other balances:

The share details are one ordinary share with a nominal value of £1. Net assets must equal shareholders' funds. A dormant company can have a balance sheet showing amounts other than zero.

Use these figures only if they match your company. If it has 100 £1 shares, a partly paid share, or other balances, the example needs changing. The AA02 form explains the share and cash treatment.

Where the service asks for previous-year figures, use the last filed accounts. For first accounts, follow its first-year instructions; there is no previous set to copy.

Step 7: Approve, review and submit

Read the directors' statements supplied by the service, including the audit exemption and responsibility for accounting records. Confirm them only if they apply.

The directors must approve the accounts before filing. Enter the actual approval date and the approving director's name. This date may be later than the balance sheet date.

Review the preview against your records. Check the company number, year end, share details, current figures and any comparatives. Submit and save a copy of the accounts and the submission reference.

Watch for the acceptance confirmation. A receipt means the submission arrived; a rejection needs correcting and resubmitting. Then check the company's filing history to see the accepted accounts. Companies House explains receipt and acceptance confirmations.

Keep the approved accounts with your company records and provide the accounts required for members. The simplified Companies House filing does not remove that obligation. Read the accounts requirements.

Part 3: Deal with HMRC and Corporation Tax

Step 8: Tell HMRC your company is dormant

Open Tell HMRC your company is dormant for Corporation Tax.

Have your company name, its 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), and the date it stopped trading if it previously traded. The UTR is different from your Companies House number.

Select Start now, enter the requested details and follow the questions about the company's activity. If it has never traded, say so; do not invent a date it stopped trading.

Submit and save the confirmation. If you cannot use the service, the same GOV.UK page links to the phone and postal options. Keep any HMRC reply with your records.

Step 9: Check whether a tax return is still required

Check HMRC letters and your company's tax account for a notice to deliver a Company Tax Return. Look at the exact period requested.

Once you have told HMRC the company is dormant, you normally do not need another return unless HMRC asks for one or the company starts trading again. However, HMRC's guidance says a return is still needed if you have already filed a return or received a notice to deliver one. Check HMRC's dormant company guidance.

If a notice covers a wholly dormant period, contact HMRC and ask whether it can be withdrawn. Keep written confirmation if HMRC withdraws it. Until that is confirmed, work to the filing deadline. No tax to pay does not cancel a notice. Read the Company Tax Return rules.

If no return is required, move to Step 11. You do not need to buy tax software just to notify HMRC of dormancy.

Step 10: File a Company Tax Return if HMRC still requires it

HMRC's free joint accounts and Company Tax Return service closed on 31 March 2026. The normal route now uses commercial software. Filing Companies House accounts through WebFiling does not submit a CT600 to HMRC. Read HMRC's replacement filing guidance.

Follow this sequence:

1. Check your HMRC access. Make sure Corporation Tax is available in the company's business tax account and complete any registration or activation needed before filing.
2. Choose suitable software. Use HMRC's recognised software list. Before paying, confirm that the product supports your dormant-company circumstances and can prepare and submit the CT600, accounts and tax computation. Some products handle only part of the return.
3. Set up the company. Enter its legal name, company number and UTR. Follow the supplier's instructions to authorise submission to HMRC.
4. Check the return dates. Use the period HMRC requires. If it differs from your Companies House accounts period, resolve the difference before continuing. Do not automatically use today's date or assume the two periods match.
5. Prepare the accounts and computation. Use the actual balance sheet figures. Share capital remains in the accounts even where there is no taxable income. Let suitable software create the required electronic accounts and computation, normally in iXBRL format.
6. Complete the tax questions. For a genuinely dormant period, taxable profits and Corporation Tax will normally be nil. Answer the remaining questions from your records. Do not put zero in every field simply because the company has not traded.
7. Review and submit. Run the software's validation checks, review the complete return and attachments, and make the declaration only when they are correct. Submit to HMRC and save the full return and acknowledgement. Correct and resend a rejected submission.

The screens vary by supplier. Follow its instructions for the buttons and fields. HMRC's acknowledgement confirms receipt; it does not mean HMRC has agreed every figure. See the return contents, electronic format and declaration requirements.

A Company Tax Return is normally due 12 months after the end of the tax accounting period. Any Corporation Tax payment is generally due earlier, nine months and one day after that period ends. Check each deadline separately. See the deadline table.

Part 4: Keep the company up to date

Step 11: File the separate confirmation statement

You must still review the company's information and file a confirmation statement at least every 12 months. It is due within 14 days after the review period ends.

Check the deadline on the register, review the company details and follow the filing service's instructions. This has a separate Companies House fee. Complete any director or person with significant control identity-verification requirements by their applicable deadlines. Read the confirmation statement guidance and check identity-verification deadlines.

Step 12: Save your evidence and set reminders

Keep the approved accounts, Companies House acceptance, HMRC dormancy correspondence and any required tax return together. Set reminders before the next accounts and confirmation statement deadlines, leaving time to fix a rejected filing.

Check company activity again each year. A new charge, payment or interest receipt may change the position. If the company starts trading, follow the steps to restart a dormant company.

If your company has an existing VAT registration or PAYE scheme, deal with those separately. Dormancy does not automatically close them. HMRC explains the VAT and PAYE steps.

Related guides

Rates and deadlines can change. Use the official links below to check what applies to you.