Annual returns were a yearly document every UK limited company filed with Companies House, listing directors, shareholders, share capital and registered office details. They were abolished on 30 June 2016 and replaced by the confirmation statement. If you’re searching “what are annual returns” today, you’re actually looking for confirmation statement rules and this guide covers both the old term and the current filing, in full.
Annual Return Meaning: Quick Definition
An annual return was a statutory snapshot document that every UK limited company, LLP, and CIC had to file with Companies House once every 12 months. It recorded who ran the company and who owned it: directors, company secretary, registered office, shareholders, and share capital.
Think of it as the paperwork that told Companies House: “here’s who’s in charge of this company today, and here’s what it owns.” It was not a financial document it never included profit, revenue, or turnover figures. That confusion is still one of the most common search mistakes people make (more on that below).
Since 30 June 2016, under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, the annual return was withdrawn entirely. No UK company can file one today. Its replacement, the confirmation statement, does a similar job but works differently and that difference matters if you’re a director trying to stay compliant.
Annual Return vs Confirmation Statement: What Actually Changed
This is the comparison every director searching this topic actually needs, so here it is side by side.
| Annual Return (pre-2016) | Confirmation Statement (today) | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Abolished 30 June 2016 | Current legal requirement |
| What you do | Re-enter your full company data set every year, even if nothing changed | Check pre-filled data and simply confirm it’s still correct |
| Filing fee (online) | £13 | £50 (from 1 February 2026) |
| Filing fee (paper) | £40 | £110 |
| Filing window | 28 days from the return date | 14 days from the end of the review period |
| Review period | Fixed anniversary date | 12 months from incorporation or last statement |
| Identity checks | None | Director & PSC identity verification required (from Nov 2025) |
| Legal basis | Companies Act 2006 (original) | Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 |
The core shift: the old system made you re-type everything annually. The new system makes you verify what Companies House already has, and correct it separately through the relevant change-of-details forms if anything’s wrong. It’s a faster process on paper, but the added identity verification step means it’s not necessarily quicker in practice for every director.
Both versions share one thing in common they’re a legal requirement, not something you can skip because your company is small, dormant, or inactive.d missing either one, past or present, can lead to real consequences for your company and its directors.
What Used to Be in a Companies House Annual Return
If your company existed before 2016, it will have historic companies annual return filings sitting on the public register. These are permanently archived you can view them, but you can’t file a new one, and they can’t be edited retroactively.
A typical pre-2016 annual return contained:
- Company name and registration number
- The legal “return date” (made-up-to date)
- Registered office address, plus an alternate inspection location (SAIL address) if records weren’t kept at the registered office
- Principal business activities (SIC codes)
- Whether the company was private or public
- Full details of every director and the company secretary (if one was appointed)
- For companies with share capital: a statement of capital, shareholder details, and (for traded companies) which market the shares traded on
Old filings still matter in a few real situations: due diligence for a lender, historical ownership disputes, or building a company timeline for investors. If you need to pull an old return for one of these, Companies House’s public register holds it, and an accountant can retrieve and interpret it for you quickly.
Who Has to File a Confirmation Statement Today
Almost every entity registered at Companies House must file, regardless of trading status:
- Private limited companies (Ltd)
- Public limited companies (PLC)
- Limited liability partnerships (LLPs)
- Community interest companies (CICs)
- Dormant companies — yes, even if the company has never traded, it still owes a confirmation statement every 12 months. Dormancy affects your accounts filing, not this filing.
There is no exemption for small companies, single-director companies, or companies with no activity. The obligation sits with the director(s), and it exists purely to keep the public register accurate — it has nothing to do with whether money moved through the business.
Current Fees and Deadlines (2026)
Companies House increased filing fees on 1 February 2026. If you’ve seen older blog posts quoting £13, they’re out of date — here’s what applies now:
- Online filing: £50 (paid once per 12-month review period, however many times you actually submit within it)
- Paper filing: £110
- Review period: 12 months, running from incorporation or from the made-up date of your last confirmation statement
- Filing deadline: within 14 days of the end of your review period
- Frequency: you must file at least once every 12 months, but you can file more often if your details change and you want the register updated sooner — this doesn’t reset your annual fee obligation, since the £50 is charged once per 12-month period regardless of how many statements you submit in it
Missing the 14-day window doesn’t trigger an automatic financial penalty the way late accounts do — but it is a criminal offence, and persistent non-filing is the single most common reason Companies House strikes companies off the register.
How to File an Annual Return (Confirmation Statement) in 2026: Step-by-Step
Since the modern equivalent is the confirmation statement, here’s the current process from start to finish.
- Check your review period end date. Log into Companies House WebFiling or the online service to see when your current 12-month period closes.
- Complete director and PSC identity verification. Since November 2025, every director and person with significant control must verify their identity through GOV.UK One Login before a confirmation statement will be accepted. This is the step that catches most directors out do it well ahead of your deadline, not on the day.
- Review the pre-filled information. Companies House shows you what it currently holds: registered office, directors, PSCs, SIC codes, shareholders, and statement of capital.
- Update anything that’s changed using the correct standalone forms a confirmation statement itself can’t be used to change details, only to confirm or flag that a change form has been filed separately.
- Pay the £50 online fee (or £110 by paper) and submit.
- File within 14 days of your review period ending. Keep the email confirmation as proof.
If any listed director hasn’t completed identity verification, Companies House will reject the statement outright build in a few extra days for this the first time you file under the new rules.
Don’t Mix These Up: Annual Return vs Annual Accounts vs Annual Turnover
Three completely different things get confused constantly, so here’s the clean breakdown.
Annual return / confirmation statement: confirms who runs and owns the company. No financial figures involved. Flat filing fee. Filed with Companies House.
Annual accounts: the company’s actual financial statements: profit, loss, assets, liabilities. Private companies file within 9 months of their financial year end; public companies within 6 months. Filed with both Companies House and HMRC (via the tax return).
Annual turnover: simply the total revenue a business generates in a financial year, before costs or tax are deducted. It’s a number that appears inside the annual accounts it isn’t a filing in its own right, and it has nothing to do with the confirmation statement.
Mixing these up is like confusing your passport renewal with your bank statement: both are official, both matter, but they answer entirely different questions and run on entirely separate deadlines even when the dates happen to land in the same month.
What Happens If You File Late or Not at All
Limited company compliance isn’t optional box-ticking — the consequences are real and, in the worst cases, permanent.
- Confirmation statement: no automatic fine for late filing, but it is a criminal offence, and Companies House can begin compulsory strike-off action if you ignore it for long enough.
- Annual accounts: automatic penalties starting at £150 and rising sharply the longer accounts remain outstanding — and these penalties double if you’re late two years running.
- Persistent non-compliance: the company is struck off the register, its bank accounts are frozen, and any remaining assets pass to the Crown (bona vacantia). Directors can also face personal fines and disqualification.
These outcomes exist because of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which gave Companies House far more power to verify and act on incorrect or missing filings — part of a wider push for a cleaner, more trustworthy public register.
Common Mistakes Directors Make
Assuming “no changes” means “no filing needed.” You must confirm even when nothing has changed. Skipping identity verification until the deadline. This single step now causes most filing delays. Confusing the confirmation statement with annual accounts and assuming one filing covers both obligations. Forgetting dormant companies still need to file. Trading status affects accounts, not the confirmation statement. Using outdated fee figures from older guides still quoting £13 the correct 2026 online fee is £50. Not updating a SAIL address or PSC change separately before confirming the statement itself won’t fix incorrect records.
How FA Accountants Can Help
Confirmation statements look simple on paper, but the overlapping deadlines, identity verification rules, and separate change-of-details forms trip up even well-organised directors. FA Accountants handles this as part of everyday limited company compliance tracking your review period, filing your confirmation statement correctly the first time, and making sure your annual accounts deadline doesn’t quietly slip past while you’re focused on running the business.
If compliance dates keep catching you off guard, that’s usually the clearest sign it’s time to hand the calendar to someone else. Get a free quote and we’ll take it from here.
Final Thoughts
What Are Annual Returns? The phrase “annual return” survives in everyday conversation, but the form itself belongs to 2016. Today, what is an annual return really means the confirmation statement: a yearly check-in that confirms your company’s details are accurate, separate from your annual accounts, and separate from your annual turnover.
Get the terminology straight, understand what Companies House actually wants, and file on time. It’s a small task with genuinely serious consequences if ignored.
Quick Questions People Also Ask
Is an annual return the same as a confirmation statement?
No, but they do a similar job. The annual return was withdrawn on 30 June 2016 and replaced by the confirmation statement, which confirms rather than re-enters your company’s details.
Is a confirmation statement the same as annual accounts?
No. The confirmation statement confirms who runs and owns your company. Annual accounts show its financial performance. Companies House expects both, filed separately, on separate deadlines.
Do dormant companies need to file a confirmation statement?
Yes. Every company, trading or not, must file one every 12 months. Dormancy has no bearing on this obligation.
What’s the current filing fee?
£50 online (as of 1 February 2026) or £110 by paper, charged once per 12-month review period.
What happens if I file late?
There’s no automatic fee like with late accounts, but it remains a criminal offence, and Companies House can start strike-off proceedings if it’s ignored long enough.
Can I file it myself, or do I need an accountant?
You can file directly through Companies House WebFiling. Many directors still use an accountant or formation agent, mainly to avoid missed deadlines and to handle the identity verification step correctly the first time.
Can I still view a company’s old annual returns?
Yes. Pre-2016 annual returns remain on the public register permanently and can be viewed (but not amended or re-filed) at any time.
