Companies House have published a list of bizarre excuses for the late filing of their statutory accounts. They include:
- “goats ate my accounts”
- “I found my wife in the bath with my accountant”
- “pirates stole my accounts”
- “we delivered the accounts to the betting office next door to Companies House”
- “a volcano erupted and prevented me from filing”
- “slugs ate my accounts”
- “it was Valentine’s Day”
- “my company was more successful than I thought it would be, so I was too busy to file”
As you would expect, Companies House issued late filing penalties and any appeals were swiftly quashed.
The level of the penalties charged depends on how late the accounts reach Companies House and is shown in the following table.
|
Length of period (measured from the date the accounts are due) |
Private company penalty |
Public company penalty |
|
Not more than 1 month |
£150 |
£750 |
|
More than 1 month but not more than 3 months |
£375 |
£1,500 |
|
More than 3 months but not more than 6 months |
£750 |
£3,000 |
|
More than 6 months |
£1,500 |
£7,500 |
A private company’s set of acceptable accounts for the accounting period ending 30 September 2009 would need to be delivered by 30 June 2010 to avoid a late filing penalty. If they were not delivered to Companies House until 15 July 2010 the company will incur a late filing penalty of £150.
The penalties will be doubled if a company files its accounts late in 2 successive financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2008. This means that if a private company, has an accounting reference date of 30 September and the accounts for the period ending 30 September 2009 were delivered late and you delivered accounts for the subsequent period ending 30 September 2010 late, then you would incur a £300 late filing penalty.