Confirmation Statement Deadline: Don't Miss Your Filing Date

The confirmation statement deadline is one of the few dates every UK limited company has to meet, whether it trades or not. Once a year you confirm to Companies House that the information it holds about your company is correct. Miss the confirmation statement deadline and the company can be struck off the register, and its directors can be prosecuted. This guide explains how your filing date is worked out, what has changed since identity verification began in November 2025, and how to make sure you never miss it.

What is a confirmation statement?

A confirmation statement, form CS01, replaced the old annual return in 2016. It confirms that Companies House has up-to-date information about your company: its registered office, directors and secretary, shareholders, share capital, people with significant control (PSCs) and business activities. Filing it does not involve any accounts or tax figures. For details of what the statement covers, see our guide to what goes in a confirmation statement.

How the confirmation statement deadline works

Your review period

Every company has a review period of up to 12 months. For a new company, the first review period starts on the day it was incorporated. Each later review period starts the day after the previous review period ended, or the day after you last filed a confirmation statement if you filed early.

The 14-day window

Your confirmation statement deadline is 14 days after the end of your review period. So for a company incorporated on 10 March 2025, the first review period ends on 9 March 2026 and the statement must be filed by 23 March 2026.

Filing early resets the date

You can file a confirmation statement at any time during the review period. If you do, a new 12-month review period starts the day after the date your statement was made up to. Some companies use this to line their confirmation statement date up with their accounts, or to keep everything in the same month each year.

How to find your confirmation statement date

The easiest way is to search for your company on the Companies House register. The company overview shows the date the next confirmation statement is due and the date the last one was made up to. You can also sign up for free email reminders from Companies House.

The fee

The Companies House fee for a confirmation statement is £50 when filed online and £110 on paper. You pay once per review period, so filing a second statement in the same period to update details does not cost again. Dormant companies pay the same fee.

Identity verification and your confirmation statement

Since 18 November 2025, directors and people with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House. For existing directors, the confirmation statement is the moment it matters:

• every director must have verified their identity before the company files its next confirmation statement after 18 November 2025
• the statement must include each director's Companies House personal code
• without the personal codes of all directors, the confirmation statement will be rejected

That means your confirmation statement deadline is also, in practice, the deadline for your directors' identity checks. Leave verification to the last week and you risk missing the filing date. Our guide to ID verification requirements explains the two ways to verify.

PSCs who are not directors

PSCs who are not directors have their own 14-day window for confirming their verification, linked to their month of birth on the register rather than to the confirmation statement. PSCs who are also directors follow the confirmation statement date.

Other things you now confirm

Changes under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act also added two items to the statement:

• A registered email address for Companies House to contact you. It is not shown on the public register.
• A statement of lawful purposes, confirming that the company's intended future activities are lawful.

What happens if you miss the confirmation statement deadline?

Unlike late accounts, there is no automatic fine for a late confirmation statement. That does not make it optional. If you miss the confirmation statement deadline:

• It is a criminal offence. The company and every officer in default can be prosecuted and fined.
• The company can be struck off. Companies House may assume the company is no longer carrying on business and start the process to remove it from the register. A struck-off company's bank accounts are frozen and its assets pass to the Crown.
• Your company looks less reliable. Overdue filings are visible to anyone checking the register, including lenders, customers and suppliers.

If you have missed the date, file as soon as possible. If the company has already been struck off, it may be possible to restore it, but that costs far more than filing on time.

Restoring a company struck off for missed filings

If a company is struck off because its confirmation statement was not filed, a former director or shareholder can usually apply for administrative restoration within six years, as long as the company was trading when it was removed. All overdue documents must be filed and the penalties paid first, and the restoration fee is £341. Court restoration is needed in other cases and costs considerably more.

Dormant companies still file

A company that is not trading still needs to file its confirmation statement every year and pay the fee. Being dormant changes how you prepare your accounts, not whether you file a confirmation statement. Our guide to dormant accounts covers the other filings a non-trading company still owes.

Updating details before you file

Some changes must be filed separately, on their own forms, before or alongside the confirmation statement:

• a new registered office address (form AD01)
• appointing or removing a director (forms AP01 and TM01)
• changes to a director's details (form CH01)
• changes to PSCs (forms PSC01 to PSC09)

Other items, such as your SIC codes, shareholder details and statement of capital, can be updated as part of the confirmation statement itself.

Filing online, step by step

Most companies file the confirmation statement online through Companies House. The process takes around 15 minutes when your records are in order:

1. Sign in to the Companies House service with your GOV.UK One Login.
2. Enter your company number and authentication code. The authentication code is a six-character code Companies House posts to your registered office. Treat it like a password, because it lets someone file for the company.
3. Check each section: registered office, officers, PSCs, SIC codes, statement of capital and shareholders. Update anything that can be changed within the statement.
4. Add the directors' personal codes to confirm they have verified their identity.
5. Confirm the registered email address and the lawful purpose statement.
6. Pay the £50 fee and submit. You should get an email confirming that the statement has been accepted.

A worked timeline

Here is how the confirmation statement deadline might look for a company incorporated on 2 June 2025:

• 2 June 2025: incorporated; first review period starts.
• Spring 2026: directors verify their identity and keep their personal codes.
• 1 June 2026: first review period ends.
• 15 June 2026: confirmation statement deadline.
• If filed on 5 June 2026: the next review period runs from 6 June 2026 to 5 June 2027, with the next statement due by 19 June 2027.

Annual accounts have a separate deadline, usually nine months after the end of the financial year, so a company has at least two Companies House dates to track each year.

Nothing has changed? You still file

A confirmation statement is needed even when every detail is exactly the same as last year. In that case you simply confirm the information and pay the fee. Many small companies assume that "no changes" means "no filing", which is how a confirmation statement deadline gets missed and a perfectly healthy company ends up facing strike-off.

Who can file the confirmation statement?

A director or company secretary can file it, or someone acting on the company's behalf, such as an accountant or formation agent. Whoever files, the directors stay legally responsible for making sure it is filed on time and is accurate. Giving false information to Companies House is an offence.

How to never miss the confirmation statement deadline

1. Diarise the date one month before the review period ends.
2. Sign up for Companies House email reminders.
3. Get every director verified early, not in the last week.
4. Keep your registers up to date through the year, so the statement is just a check.
5. Use an authorised agent who tracks the date and files for you.

Confirmation statement deadline: quick answers

• How often? At least once every 12 months.
• When is it due? Within 14 days of the end of your review period.
• How much? £50 online, once per review period.
• Is there a late penalty? No automatic fine, but it is an offence and can lead to strike-off.
• Can I file early? Yes, and your next review period then starts the day after your statement date.

Companies House sets out the rules on GOV.UK in its confirmation statement guidance.

We can file it for you

We track your confirmation statement deadline, help your directors complete identity verification, check every detail against the register and file the statement with Companies House. See our confirmation statement service.