How to check if your company is dormant

By Ben Davies · Updated 5 October 2026

"Dormant" has a specific legal meaning in the UK, and it is not quite the same at Companies House as it is at HMRC. Before you file dormant accounts, check that your company actually qualifies.

For a quick answer, try our free Am I dormant? checker — eight questions and it tells you whether you're dormant for Companies House, HMRC, both, or neither.

The Companies Act definition

Under section 1169 of the Companies Act 2006, a company is dormant if it has had no significant accounting transactions during the period.

The only things that do not count are:

• Payment for shares taken by subscribers on formation
• The confirmation statement fee, a change-of-name fee and a re-registration fee, paid to Companies House
• The penalty for filing accounts late

Other Companies House fees, such as the strike-off fee or the fee for registering a charge, aren't on the list. Everything else counts as a significant accounting transaction — including receiving bank interest, making a payment, issuing an invoice, or an entry such as depreciation or writing off a debt.

This is the definition used when deciding whether you can file dormant accounts with Companies House.

The HMRC test

HMRC has its own test for Corporation Tax. A company is usually dormant for Corporation Tax if it has stopped trading and has no other income, such as bank interest or investments.

The Companies Act test catches more. Any recorded transaction ends dormancy at Companies House, while HMRC looks at trading and income — so a company with a bank charge and nothing else can be dormant for HMRC but not for Companies House. A company with income of any kind isn't dormant for either.

HMRC's test isn't what decides whether you file a nil CT600. A return is due when HMRC sends a notice to deliver one, and HMRC can send one every year, even to a dormant company. A notice, once sent, has to be answered, even for a dormant period. See our guide on whether you need a CT600 for a dormant company.

Common scenarios

Incorporated but never traded — Dormant under both definitions. You formed the company but never opened a bank account, never invoiced anyone, never received any money. This is the most straightforward case.

Holding company with no activity — If the company holds shares in another company but does nothing else (no dividends received, no management charges, no loans, no write-down of what the shares are worth), it is typically dormant — though its accounts still have to show the shares it holds, and whether it can file dormant accounts also depends on the size of the group. See what a holding company with dormant subsidiaries has to file.

Company that stopped trading — If your company previously traded but has now ceased all activity, it can become dormant. Make sure there are no lingering bank transactions (even interest). Its balance sheet doesn't have to be empty: money it still owes or is owed, and assets it still holds, stay on its accounts unchanged, as long as nothing about them changes in the year — nothing paid or collected, no interest added, nothing written off or written down.

Company with a bank account that earns interest — Not dormant. Even small amounts of bank interest count as a significant accounting transaction. Close the account or switch to a non-interest-bearing account.

Company that pays for its own registered office service — Not dormant if the company itself is paying. If you pay personally, the company stays dormant only if the service is in your own name and the company never owes you for it or pays you back.

What if you are not sure?

If you are unsure whether your company qualifies as dormant:

1. Check your bank statements. Any transaction (in or out) means the company is not dormant.
2. If the company has no bank account and has never had one, it is almost certainly dormant.
3. Run our free Am I dormant? checker — it walks through the same questions HMRC and Companies House would ask.
4. Don't guess: filing dormant accounts for a non-dormant company is a legal offence. If the answer is "not dormant", that doesn't automatically mean an accountant — see below.

DormantFile files for dormant and non-trading companies only. If your company is genuinely dormant, we file both your annual accounts — including any figures it still carries from trading years — and your nil CT600 from one dashboard. If it had a transaction or two but didn't trade, such as a loan being repaid, we file micro-entity accounts instead. We don't file for companies that are trading, or that have income to report — that is a job for an accountant. See how it works.

Key points

• "Dormant" means no significant accounting transactions (Companies Act 2006, section 1169). For HMRC, a company is usually dormant for Corporation Tax if it has stopped trading and has no other income.
• A company with even minor bank interest is not dormant.
• Incorporated-but-never-traded companies are the clearest dormant case.
• Dormant accounts require the company to be genuinely dormant. Figures left over from trading don't stop that — only transactions do, including interest added, depreciation and write-offs.
• If unsure, check your bank statements and run the free dormancy checker.