Setting up a limited company in the UK is the easy part. The paperwork that follows — confirmation statements, annual accounts, corporation tax registration, and now mandatory identity verification — is where new directors most often slip up. None of these obligations are optional, and missing them can range from a late filing penalty to your company being struck off the register entirely.
This checklist walks through exactly what a new Ltd company needs to do, in order, along with the deadlines that actually matter in 2026. If you're setting up a UK company as a non-resident, it's worth also reading our guide on registering a UK company as a non-resident, since a few of these steps work slightly differently when you're based outside the UK.
What "Companies House Compliance" Actually Covers
Companies House compliance isn't one filing — it's an ongoing relationship with two separate government bodies that runs for as long as your company exists:
- Companies House — handles your confirmation statement, annual accounts, and now identity verification for directors and PSCs
- HMRC — handles corporation tax registration, your Corporation Tax return (CT600), and PAYE/VAT if applicable
New directors often assume these two are the same thing. They're not, and each has its own separate deadlines and penalties.
Step 1: Register for Corporation Tax Within 3 Months
As soon as your Ltd company starts trading — not from the date of incorporation, but from the date you actually begin business activity — you have 3 months to register for Corporation Tax with HMRC. This is separate from Companies House entirely, but it's the first deadline most new directors hit, so it belongs at the top of the checklist.
"Trading" here means things like buying or selling goods, advertising your business, employing someone, or earning any income — not simply having an incorporated company sitting dormant.
Step 2: Set Up Your Statutory Registers
Every Ltd company is legally required to maintain certain internal records, even though most of them aren't filed publicly in full detail. These include:
- Register of members (shareholders)
- Register of directors
- PSC register (persons with significant control — generally anyone owning 25%+ of shares, controlling 25%+ of voting rights, or holding the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board)
- Register of charges (if applicable)
The PSC register in particular gets scrutiny, since a summary of it is reported to Companies House via your confirmation statement. Getting this wrong — or leaving out a PSC — is a common first-year mistake, especially for companies with more than one shareholder or an overseas parent structure.
Step 3: Director and PSC Identity Verification (New for 2025-2026)
This is the single biggest compliance change new Ltd companies need to know about right now, and it's genuinely still in rollout.
Quick answer: Since 18 November 2025, verifying your identity with Companies House is mandatory for all directors and PSCs. New directors and PSCs must verify immediately. Existing directors have a transition period tied to their company's next confirmation statement, with the full deadline landing by November 2026.
Here's how the timeline actually breaks down:
If you're a new director or PSC (appointed on or after 18 November 2025): You must verify your identity straight away — for PSCs specifically, within 14 days of being added to the register.
If you were already a director before 18 November 2025: You need to verify before your company files its next confirmation statement due after that date. In practice, this means your actual deadline depends on when your confirmation statement is due — a company with a statement due in December 2025 has a much earlier practical deadline than one due in October 2026. If you're a director of multiple companies, your effective deadline is the earliest confirmation statement date across all of them.
How to verify:
- Directly through Companies House via the GOV.UK One Login service, or
- Through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) — typically an accountant or formation agent registered to carry out verification on your behalf
Once verified, you're issued a personal code that stays with you permanently and gets used across all your directorships — you only need to go through the process once.
Why this matters more than it looks: if even one director on a multi-director board hasn't verified, Companies House can reject the entire confirmation statement filing. Since late filing of a confirmation statement is itself an offence, one unverified director becomes a genuine compliance risk for the whole company, not just that individual.
Companies House has said it won't prosecute for non-compliance during the 12-month transition window, but that grace period ends in November 2026, after which penalties, filing rejections, and even director disqualification become live risks.
Step 4: File Your Confirmation Statement Every 12 Months
Quick answer: Every Ltd company must file a confirmation statement at least once every 12 months, confirming that Companies House's records — directors, PSCs, share capital, registered office, and SIC codes — are accurate. It's due within 14 days of the end of your 12-month review period, and it costs £50 for online filing as of 1 February 2026 (paper filing costs £110).
Your review period starts from either your incorporation date or the date your last confirmation statement was made up to. For example, a company incorporated on 1 June 2025 has a review period running to 31 May 2026, with a filing deadline of 14 June 2026.
A few things that trip people up:
- The confirmation statement is not a financial filing — it reports no revenue or accounts data. It's purely a check that your registered details are current.
- You can file early at any point during your review period, which resets the clock — useful if you want to lock in verification requirements ahead of a deadline.
- Once you've paid the annual fee, any additional confirmation statements filed within the same 12-month payment period are free.
- Dormant companies are not exempt — they must file a confirmation statement every year for as long as the company remains on the register.
Step 5: File Your Annual Accounts On Time
Quick answer: Private limited companies must file annual accounts with Companies House within 9 months of their accounting reference date (ARD). First-year accounts are different — they're due 21 months after the date of incorporation, since your first accounting period often runs longer than 12 months.
Late filing penalties scale with how late you are, starting at £150 and rising to £1,500 for accounts filed more than 6 months late — and these penalties double if you file late in two consecutive financial years, which catches out companies that treat one late filing as a one-off rather than fixing the underlying process.
Separately, note that your Corporation Tax return (CT600) has its own deadline with HMRC — 12 months after your accounting period ends — while the actual tax payment is due earlier, 9 months and 1 day after the period ends. It's easy to assume the accounts deadline and the tax deadline are the same thing; they're not, and mixing them up is one of the more common first-year mistakes.
Step 6: Keep Your Registered Office and SIC Code Current
Two smaller but easily overlooked items:
- Registered office address — must be a physical UK address (not a PO box alone) where official correspondence can be received. If you move, you must update Companies House promptly, not just wait for your next confirmation statement.
- SIC code — the code describing your business activity. If your business changes direction in year one (common for startups pivoting), your SIC code should be updated at your next confirmation statement rather than left stale.
What Happens If You Miss a Deadline
Missing Companies House deadlines isn't a single consequence — it escalates:
- Late filing penalty (for accounts specifically) — starts at £150, scales up to £1,500
- Filing rejection — increasingly common now for confirmation statements where director ID verification is incomplete
- Compulsory strike-off proceedings — Companies House can begin the process of removing your company from the register entirely if filings are persistently missed
- Director disqualification — in serious or repeated non-compliance cases
The practical fix for most of this is simple: Companies House offers a free email reminder service for confirmation statements and accounts deadlines, which is worth activating the day your company is incorporated, not after you've already missed something.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a confirmation statement and when is it due? It's an annual filing confirming your company's registered details are accurate. It's due within 14 days of the end of your 12-month review period, which starts from your incorporation date or your last confirmation statement.
Do I need to verify my identity to be a company director? Yes. Since 18 November 2025, identity verification is mandatory for all directors and PSCs. New appointees must verify immediately; existing directors have a transition period tied to their confirmation statement deadline, ending by November 2026.
What happens if I don't file my confirmation statement on time? There's no direct financial penalty for lateness on the statement itself, but an overdue confirmation statement puts your company at risk of compulsory strike-off, which is a far more serious consequence.
What is a PSC and do I need to register one? A person with significant control is generally someone who owns 25%+ of your company's shares, controls 25%+ of voting rights, or can appoint or remove a majority of directors. Nearly every Ltd company needs to identify and register at least one PSC.
How soon after incorporation must I register for Corporation Tax? Within 3 months of starting to trade — not from the date of incorporation itself, but from when actual business activity begins.
What's the penalty for filing accounts late with Companies House? Penalties start at £150 and rise to £1,500 depending on how late the filing is, and they double if you're late in two consecutive years.
Final Thoughts
None of these steps are individually complicated, but they land in your first year in a specific order — corporation tax registration first, then your statutory registers, then identity verification if you haven't already done it, then your first confirmation statement, then your first annual accounts. Missing the order, or assuming one filing covers another, is where most new directors run into avoidable trouble.
If you're setting this up from outside the UK, the identity verification step in particular has extra nuances worth getting right the first time — our guide on registering a UK company as a non-resident covers what changes when you're not physically in the UK. And if you'd rather have someone track these deadlines for you, you can explore Brandora Services' compliance support or get in touch with our team to walk through your specific filing calendar.
One more honest flag: the identity verification rollout is still an active, moving regulatory process — some deadlines (like the November 2026 full enforcement date) are described by sources as "expected" rather than finalized law, and further phases (like requirements for third-party filing agents) have already been pushed back once. If this article stays live for a while, it's worth having someone check Companies House's official identity verification guidance periodically and updating the dates rather than treating this as a one-time publish-and-forget piece — that's genuinely how a compliance article stays trustworthy rather than becoming a liability.