Do accounts in euros need converting to pounds for a Company Tax Return?
By Ben Davies · Updated 4 November 2026
We file your accounts and tax return for £19/year
File my dormant accountsThe accounts don't need converting. The return is always in pounds.
HMRC's guidance on accounts in a foreign currency says: "Whatever currency the company uses in its accounts, the CTSA return must always be completed in sterling." The law behind it is section 5 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010, which says a company's income and gains must be "calculated and expressed in sterling".
So there are two separate things:
| Currency | |
|---|---|
| Your accounts | The currency they were prepared in, such as euros or US dollars |
| Your Company Tax Return (CT600) | Always pounds |
Companies House also accepts accounts in other currencies.
If the return is nil
There is nothing to convert. A nil return shows no income and no profit, and nil is the same in any currency. The accounts sent with it are your company's official accounts, in their own currency.
If the company had income
Then it isn't a nil return, and the tax has to be worked out. Sections 6 and 7 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 set out how. Which one applies depends on the currency the company mainly operates in. If that's pounds, profits are worked out as if the accounts were in pounds. If it's the other currency, they are worked out in that currency and then translated into pounds.
A nil return can't go with accounts that show income or profit, so an accountant will need to file it.
If your accounts are in pounds but your money isn't
This one catches people out. Say the accounts are in pounds but the company keeps euros in its bank account. Each year end, that balance has to be restated at the closing exchange rate, and the difference goes through profit and loss (FRS 105, paragraphs 25.5 and 25.6).
So the balance sheet moves even though nothing happened. A gain can show as a profit in accounts that were meant to go with a nil return. If that's your position, ask an accountant before you file.
Share capital in another currency
Shares in euros don't make the return any different. Shares can be in any currency, and paying for them when the company was formed isn't income. A company with capital in euros and nothing else going on is still dormant, as long as it has had no significant accounting transactions.