File dormant company accounts online (UK).

Enter and file dormant accounts

Use this route when you have determined that the company is dormant for the period.

1. Add or select the company, then open Start new filing or your existing draft.
2. In step 1, choose the full accounts period and select Dormant. Answer the question about earlier trading if it appears. Dormant this year does not mean never traded. What Trading status changes
3. Under What are you filing?, select Companies House for accounts only. Choose both only if you also intend to file a CT600 for the period.
4. In Financial data → Balance sheet, enter the prepared closing balances and any requested prior-year comparatives. Do not replace real balances with zero simply because the company is dormant.
5. Continue to review and prepare the draft preview. Enter the signing director and Accounts approval date. Check the company, period, balances and dormant statements in the accounts.
6. Complete the subscription and filing steps, including the Company authentication codeand the declaration. Check the Companies House acceptance in Your filing record.

For a period longer than 12 months, retain the full accounts dates. If you also file to HMRC, check each dated CT600 and its receipt. The long-period guide explains the distinction.

What is a dormant company?

A company is dormant for Companies House purposes if it has had no significant accounting transactions during the financial year. A significant accounting transaction is any transaction the company must enter in its accounting records, such as a sale, a purchase, a bank charge or interest received. Under section 1169 of the Companies Act 2006, the only transactions ignored are payment for shares by the subscribers when the company was formed, Companies House fees for a change of name, re-registration or a confirmation statement, and penalties for filing accounts late. Fees for other services, such as a registered office or service address provider, are not on this list. Being “dormant for Companies House” and “dormant for HMRC” are two different things with two different filing obligations. This page covers the Companies House side. For the HMRC / corporation tax side, see dormant company tax return (UK).

Many dormant companies are flat-management, residents' management or right-to-manage companies, limited by shares or by guarantee. Once service-charge money held on trust for the leaseholders is left out, such a company often has nothing of its own to record and files as dormant. See flat-management and RTM companies.

Dormant this year does not mean the company has never traded. On a new dormant draft, we ask about earlier trading unless the period starts on incorporation, so the accounts carry the right history tag. We accept your answer without asking for evidence. See how dormant status is tagged, with official guidance.

Do you need to file with Companies House?

Yes — almost always. Every UK limited company must file annual accounts with Companies House, regardless of whether it traded. Dormant companies just get to file a simpler, shorter version. What happens if you don't:

• Automatic late-filing penalties (from £150, rising to £1,500+)
• Registered directors can be fined personally
• Persistent non-filing → company struck off the register

What about HMRC and CT600?

Most dormant companies either don't need to file a CT600 (because HMRC has formally confirmed dormancy) or file a nil CT600. If you need to file a CT600 alongside your dormant accounts, we handle that in the same flow. See file company accounts and CT600 online.

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