All Limited companies registered in the UK are required to submit an annual return and set of accounts every year to Companies House. This article looks at the Annual Return and how you can fill your first one out.

Annual Returns should normally be submitted on the anniversary of your companies opening date every year. For your first annual return you will be sent a letter reminding you of the date however remembering the others is up to you.

What is an Annual Return

An annual return has nothing to do with your companies accounts. Actually the only thing that it does is confirm that everything you told Companies House about the company when it was founded is still correct.

You should complete annual returns every year to inform Companies House of any changes to the company. Changes cannot however be made on the annual return forms. They must be made at the same time as filing your return on other forms.

Filing an Annual Return

Annual returns can be filed online or by post. If you are filing online then you will need a government gateway ID and password. This will allow you to log into the system and file your return. If filing by post then you will need to print the forms out of your computer and fill them in by hand.

Fees

The Fee for filing an annual return by post is £30 as of 2010. The fee for filing online is £15 which makes it much more popular with many compnaies.

What if you're late

As a director of a limited company you have responsibility to ensure that your company files an annual return at least once a year. If you are late then Companies House technically has the authority to prosecute you, however this only really happens if you are continually late.

If you are late then you will receive another letter demanding the annual return. They give you a month after the date of the letter to get the annual return in. If the annual return still isn't filed then you will probably end up losing your company. Companies house will strike the company off the register.

This will also be a problem if you have any business bank accounts because any that you have will be frozen instantly.