Final CT600 when your company has stopped trading

Last trading CT600HMRC only when the dates differAny period up to 18 monthsWhere you see it: Company Profile & Period › My HMRC Corporation Tax period is different, and Financial Data

Before entering figures, the filing setup questions can set the existing destination and CT600 route for an ordinary limited company. They keep the full accounts dates beside the CT600 dates. You can also continue with the controls below without opening the questions.

Is this the right guide for you?

Common mistake: shortening the accounts to the cessation date

There is no final-accounts checkbox, so it is tempting to change the accounts end date to the day trading stopped. The tax is the same either way. The difference is in the accounts: the accounts must cover the company’s real accounting reference period, and the Corporation Tax period is entered separately.

More help: Set different CT600 dates · Changing your accounting period

If trading stops before the accounts period ends

• Keep the statutory accounts dates that the company will file. Do not shorten the Companies House accounts merely because trading stopped earlier.
• If the final Corporation Tax period ends on the cessation date but the accounts continue beyond it, use the separate Corporation Tax period route. Enter the established CT start and cessation dates there and choose HMRC CT600 under What are you filing?.
• This route files the Company Tax Return only. It does not file accounts with Companies House. Your Companies House accounts may already have been filed, or you may file them by another route.
• The profit and loss account in the accounts attached to this CT600 shows the figures you enter for the Corporation Tax period, so it does not include anything after the cessation date. The balance sheet is at the accounts end date.
• Review the statutory accounts period and final CT600 period separately before filing.

Note: your final Corporation Tax period may be shorter than your Companies House accounting period. That’s normal and is accepted by HMRC. A period shorter than 12 months also has its £50,000 and £250,000 profit limits reduced by days.

If the company remains within the charge after cessation, the next Corporation Tax period starts the following day. For interest, refunds or other receipts after cessation, follow how to file the later CT600. Mark cessation in the earlier trading return so its loss pool closes there.

More help: Set different CT600 dates: the figures · GOV.UK: Corporation Tax rates and short periods

Trading losses when the trade stops

At the bottom of Financial Data, tick The company permanently stopped trading on or before [date] if that is true. The date shown is the end of the last CT600 return. The computation then shows unused trading losses as not carried forward because the trade ceased. It does not change the loss arising, relief used in the final period or Corporation Tax. If the trade stopped after that date, leave the box unticked. With Enter figures separately, the box on each CT600 tab reads The trade permanently ceased in this Corporation Tax period.

A loss marked not carried forward may still qualify for a separate terminal loss relief claim. This service files an ordinary preceding-12-month claim through Trading loss carried back. It does not make the three-year terminal extension or section 45F claims. A final 12-month loss may be eligible under section 39, and a loss brought forward into the final period may be eligible under section 45F. See HMRC's terminal loss guidance and HMRC CTM04115.

Worked example

Company

Holly Example Ltd

Accounts period

1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. The accounts keep these dates.

Trade stopped

31 December 2025, permanently. No income or transactions after that.

Final Corporation Tax period

1 April 2025 to 31 December 2025

Figures for the Corporation Tax period

Turnover £64,000, staff costs £21,000, other charges £25,000

Companies House

The accounts for the full accounts period are filed separately.

The company and all figures on this page are fictional.

Before you start

The cessation date

The day the trade permanently stopped. The final Corporation Tax period ends on that day.

HMRC’s dates

Check your CT603 notice or HMRC business tax account. What to check first

Figures up to the cessation date

Income, costs and tax adjustments for the Corporation Tax period. How you work them out is for you or your accountant to decide.

Balance sheet

At the end of the accounts period.

Company UTR and Government Gateway details

Where to find your UTR · Government Gateway

The company and all figures on this page are fictional.

Step 1: file the final CT600 up to the cessation date

1. Start a new filing

   Dashboard, company card

   Click New filing. If you see Resume filing, click the small arrow beside it and choose Start new filing →

   Confirm the company

   Tick the confirmation box, then click Continue with this company →

2. Company Profile & Period

   Accounting period

   1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026The statutory accounts dates, not the cessation date.

   Special tax regimes

   No

   What are you filing?

   HMRC CT600Because the Corporation Tax period ends before the accounts period. The accounts go to Companies House separately.

   Filing purpose

   Standard return

   My HMRC Corporation Tax period is different from my statutory accounts period.

   Tick it

   Corporation Tax period start

   1 April 2025

   Corporation Tax period end

   31 December 2025The day trading permanently stopped.

   Confirmation tick boxes

   Tick both, if they are trueThe first confirms the dates match your CT603 notice or HMRC business tax account. The second is about any days between the accounts start and the Corporation Tax start. In this example there are none.

   Trading status

   ActiveThe form starts on Dormant, so make sure you change it. Trading status explained

   How do you want to enter your figures?

   Enter my figures once

   What the company does

   Trading

   Click Next →.

3. Financial Data

   Enter the figures for the Corporation Tax period, 1 April 2025 to 31 December 2025.

   Previous year

   Last year’s figures, from your previous accountsRequired before you continue. Figures from Companies House fill in where available. Check them, and enter 0 where a line had no amount.

   Turnover

   64000Box 145

   Cost of raw materials and consumables

   0

   Staff costs

   21000

   Other charges

   25000

   Company tax type

   Standard company

   Balance sheet

   Your balance sheet at 31 March 2026

   Average number of employees

   Your average number of employees

   The company permanently stopped trading on or before

   Tick it. The date shown is 31 December 2025.What the tick changes

   Click Next →.

4. Review & file

   The summary shows Trade permanently stopped by 31 December 2025. The Corporation tax due card for Holly Example Ltd shows:

   Corporation tax due

   £3,420 .00

   On taxable total profits of £18,000 at 19.0% · small profits

   Optional

   Click Preview your documents (free) to check the CT600, computation and accounts first

   Subscribe

   Click Unlock Filing and complete payment

   Continue

   Click Continue to submission

5. Filing credentials

   Corporation Tax UTR

   Your 10-digit UTR

   Gateway User ID

   Your Government Gateway user ID

   Gateway Password

   Your Government Gateway password

   Select the director submitting this return

   The director’s name

   Accounts approval date

   The date the directors approved the accountsWhat to enter

   Declaration

   Tick it

   Click Submit to HMRC.

6. After you submit

   The filing page shows the HMRC submission under Gateway submissions, then Accepted once HMRC confirms it. HMRC usually replies within a few minutes, but it can take longer.

   Pay any Corporation Tax due by the deadline, which is 9 months and 1 day after the end of that final period. The Review & file page shows the date.

   More help: Filing statuses explained · Paying your Corporation Tax

Sample outcome

Accounts periods over 12 months

A Corporation Tax period cannot be longer than 12 months. The final Corporation Tax period still ends on the day trading stopped.

• If the dates from the start to the cessation date are 12 months or less, the wizard prepares one final CT600, as in the example above.
• If they end more than 12 months after the start, even by one day, the wizard prepares two CT600s: the first for 12 months, the second ending on the cessation date. Figures entered once are shared between them by the number of days, and an amount that belongs to one date goes on the allocation panel. The trade-stopped box shows the end of the second return.
• If the company stays within Corporation Tax after cessation, for example because it receives bank interest, one filing can end the first CT600 on the cessation date with First CT600 ends, as long as each return is 12 months or less. Enter each return’s figures with Enter figures separately. Filing a CT600 after the trade stops

More help: How a long period splits into two CT600s · Amounts that belong to one date · Balancing allowances on cessation

Step 2: Tell HMRC the company has stopped trading

This happens in your HMRC online (Business Tax) account, or by phone or letter to the Corporation Tax office quoting your UTR, not on the CT600 and not through #Simple CompanyTax. Which route you take depends on your plans for the company:

• If the company stays incorporated but won’t trade, tell HMRC it is now dormant for Corporation Tax. HMRC then stops issuing a “notice to deliver a Company Tax Return”.
• If you intend to close the company completely, apply to strike it off at Companies House once all Corporation Tax obligations have been met.

What we do vs what you do

Closing a company is a shared job. Here’s the split:

#Simple CompanyTax does:

• Files your CT600 with HMRC.
• Files your micro-entity accounts (if applicable).

You still need to:

• Notify HMRC if the company is becoming dormant.
• Apply for strike-off (DS01) if you’re closing the company.
• Close PAYE and cancel VAT registration if applicable.

What HMRC & Companies House expect

HMRC (Corporation Tax):

• A final CT600 covering the period up to the date you stopped trading.
• Pay any Corporation Tax due, 9 months and 1 day after that period end.
• Tell HMRC the company is dormant or has stopped (this is what stops future returns).
• Close PAYE and cancel VAT registration if you’re registered.
• Keep your records for at least 6 years.

Companies House (closing the company):

• Apply to strike it off with form DS01 (currently £13 online, £18 by post).
• In the last 3 months the company must not have traded, sold stock or changed name.
• It must not be threatened with liquidation and must have no agreements with creditors.
• Tell interested parties within 7 days of applying (members, creditors, employees).
• Distribute any remaining assets first, because anything left passes to the Crown once the company is dissolved.

If the company is insolvent, striking off is not the route. You’d use liquidation through a licensed insolvency practitioner instead. See closing a limited company for the full picture, and final returns before a voluntary strike-off.

Do I file final accounts at Companies House?

Usually not as a separate step. Companies House does not ask for “final accounts” as part of the strike-off process. You only need to file annual accounts that fall due before the company is dissolved. If the strike-off completes before your next accounts deadline, no further Companies House accounts are needed.

If the company is staying on the register and you want your Companies House accounts to cover the same short period as your final CT600, you normally need to shorten your accounting reference date first (form AA01), because Companies House expects accounts made up to that date or within 7 days of it. #Simple CompanyTax does not change your accounting reference date, you do that with Companies House directly. See changing your accounting period for how the dates fit together.

So HMRC won’t expect a CT600 again: pick one

• Keeping the company but not trading: tell HMRC it is dormant. HMRC stops expecting returns until it trades again or receives income.
• Closing the company for good: strike it off (DS01). File the final CT600 and pay any tax first. Once it’s dissolved, Companies House tells HMRC and the Corporation Tax record is closed automatically.

Common questions

I need to submit “final accounts” but there is no checkbox for it. Where is it?

There is no final-accounts checkbox in this wizard. Enter the actual statutory accounts dates. Do not change the accounts end date merely to make it match the end of trading. If the Corporation Tax return covers different dates, use the separate Corporation Tax period controls described in the date-entry guide. Review the accounts period and CT600 period separately, then complete the relevant HMRC notification and Companies House actions below.

Do I need to tick a “Final CT600” box?

No. HMRC does not provide a “final return” checkbox on the CT600. A return becomes the last one because it covers the final accounting period and HMRC is separately notified that the company has become dormant or has been dissolved.

Can my Corporation Tax period be different from my Companies House period?

Yes. Your final Corporation Tax period runs to the date you stopped trading, which may be shorter than your Companies House accounting period. This is normal and accepted by HMRC.

Does filing the final CT600 close my company?

No. Filing the CT600 settles your Corporation Tax for the final period. To close the company you also apply to strike it off at Companies House (form DS01). To keep it but pause it, you tell HMRC it is dormant.

Watch out for

• Order matters. File and pay the final CT600 before the company is dissolved, because chasing tax or refunds after strike-off is far harder.
• Expecting a refund? If a Corporation Tax refund is due, it’s generally best to wait until it has been paid before applying to strike off. Once a company is dissolved, money owed to it passes to the Crown and is difficult to reclaim.
• Don’t forget PAYE & VAT. Striking off the company does not cancel these, so close your PAYE scheme and cancel VAT registration separately if you were registered.

Not the right guide?

Open the guide that matches the return you are filing.

Looking for a different field or step? See all filing wizard guides →

Official sources

• Corporation Tax Act 2009, section 10: end of an accounting period
• GOV.UK: Closing a limited company
• GOV.UK: Dormant companies and associations
• GOV.UK: Dormant for Corporation Tax
• HMRC: Corporation Tax trading and non-trading
• GOV.UK: Pay your Corporation Tax bill
• GOV.UK: Corporation Tax rates
• HMRC CTM04115: losses when a trade ceases
• HMRC CTM04130: terminal losses
• Companies House: Strike off your company from the register
• Companies House: The DS01 strike-off form