Changes That Affect Your Business: Confirmation Statement Replacing Annual Return

October 10, 2016 1:40 pm Published by

confirmation statement to replace annual returnAs of June 30th 2016, companies are now required to submit a confirmation statement to Companies House as opposed to the annual return that is usually filed. This change affects all private limited companies and limited liability partnerships (LLP’s) registered in the UK.

The change requires companies to deliver a confirmation statement to Companies House once every 12 months to ensure information about their business is accurate and up to date; even if the company is dormant.

How Do Confirmation Statements Differ From Annual Returns?

The confirmation statement serves the same purpose as the annual return, to provide up to date information on the public register. However, as opposed to the annual return, companies are now only required to declare and update changes to the information held by Companies House, whereas an annual return required companies to re-confirm each individual piece of information.

For this reason, the Confirmation Statement is not as complicated as its predecessor, companies will not need to enter previously filed information if it has not changed in the past 12 months – the confirmation statement allows you to simply check a box to confirm that Companies House’ records held on the public register are still correct.

What Information Is Required To Complete A Confirmation Statement?

When filing a Confirmation Statement, the information companies will be required to check and confirm includes:

  • The company’s registered office address
  • Trade classification codes (SIC codes)
  • Directors and their details including residential addresses
  • List of company shareholders
  • Share capital and share transfers throughout the confirmation periods
  • The address of a single alternative inspection (SAIL) if applicable
  • Information about people with significant control (PSCs)

People With Significant Control (PSC)

Most of the above information was previously required to file an annual return, therefore, companies should be familiar with it. However, a notable change from the annual return is companies will now be required to declare the information held about their people with significant control (PSC) in their first Confirmation Statement. A PSC is a person or entity who:

  • Hold directly or indirectly, more than 25% of the shares or voting rights of the company
  • Hold the right to directly or indirectly appoint or remove a majority of directors
  • Has the right to exercise significant influence or control over the company

You can find out about PSC registers and what they mean in depth in our recent blog.

Preparing and Filing Your Confirmation Statement

Checking the information held about your company by Companies House can be done online. After you’ve checked the information is correct, you can send your confirmation statement online or by post – this is the stage where any changes to your SIC codes, shareholder information or statement of capital can be reported, however, you will not be able to use the confirmation statement to report changes to your company’s officers, registered office address or the address where your record or kept.

A Confirmation Statement must be filed every 12 months, even if there has been no changes to your company information since your last annual return was filed. Whilst Companies House allow your statement to be filed up to 14 days past the due date, failure to deliver the Confirmation Statement can result in fines of up to £5,000. You can opt to receive an email alert or reminder by post to your company’s office when your confirmation statement is due which will help you not to forget.

Will I Need To Pay For A Confirmation Statement?

Filing a confirmation statement costs £13 when done online, and £40 when filing by post. However, unlike the annual return, this fee is only due once a year; regardless of how many confirmation statements you file within the 12 month period.

Need A Hand?

Here at First Call Financials, we understand change can be confusing. That’s why we work closely with our clients to ensure they are compliant with changes, saving them money and allowing them to focus on their business without fear of penalisation. To find out more about how these changes affect you and how we can help, give us a call on 0117 3790810.

identicon

Categorised in: ,

This post was written by Steph Roffey

Comments are closed here.