Companies House grants extension to companies for filing accounts

Providing relief for companies directly impacted by COVID-19

There are around 4.3m businesses on the Companies House register, and usually if a company does not file accounts in time, they are issued with an automatic penalty fee.

However, in recognition of these unprecedented times, as of March 25, Companies House has granted companies who have been directly affected by COVID–19 the option to apply for a three-month extension for filing their accounts.

As part of the agreed measures, those citing issues around COVID-19 will be automatically and immediately granted an extension. To make the situation even simpler, companies can apply for the extension online, via a fast track system, taking up only 15 minutes of their time.

Companies House Chief Executive, Louise Smyth, has stated that “by easing the burden, we can help businesses through this period and enable them to thrive in the future. I would encourage companies who believe they would benefit from this new flexibility to make an application in good time.”

Read more about the events affected by COVID-19 regarding Restructuring and Insolvency in our article.