Can a CIC file dormant accounts with form AA02?

No. The AA02 dormant-accounts route is not available to CICs. A dormant CIC still prepares dormant-format (or small-format) accounts, but must deliver them with a CIC34 report and the £15 fee — on paper, or via the online CIC service if the accounts are prepared in a format it supports.

Is there a fee for filing CIC accounts?

Yes — £15, unlike ordinary companies which file accounts free. On paper it's a cheque payable to Companies House; the online CIC service takes a debit or credit card.

Can filing software submit CIC accounts?

No. Companies House does not accept CIC accounts through any third-party filing software or the software filing gateway. Accountants' software can prepare a CIC accounts package, but it is uploaded manually through Companies House's own service — it cannot be submitted programmatically.

Does a dormant CIC still file a CT600 with HMRC?

The HMRC side works like any company: if HMRC has marked the CIC dormant for corporation tax, no CT600 is due until they issue a notice to file. CIC status changes nothing about corporation tax, and unlike the accounts, the CT600 can be filed through software — DormantFile files it once a notice arrives.

Can a CIC stay dormant indefinitely?

The CIC Regulator expects CICs to pursue their community purpose and has warned that a CIC dormant for an extended period (around five years) risks failing the community interest test. Long-term-dormant CICs should consider converting to an ordinary company or dissolving.

How to file CIC accounts — including for a dormant CIC

By DormantFile · Updated 24 August 2026

A community interest company files its annual accounts under the same accounting rules as any other limited company — but through a completely different letterbox. Every CIC, including a dormant one, must deliver its accounts together with a CIC34 community interest report and a £15 fee, and Companies House only accepts that package by post or through its dedicated online CIC service. WebFiling, the AA02 paper form and third-party filing software are all closed to CICs.

That last point is why no software — DormantFile included — can file a CIC's accounts. The Company Tax Return is a different story: HMRC accepts a CIC's CT600 from software like any other company's, and DormantFile files it. This guide covers what a CIC (dormant or otherwise) actually has to file, the accounts routes that work, the CT600 side, and the deadlines and penalties, which are the same as for every other company.

What makes CIC filing different

Three things, all set by law rather than by Companies House preference:

The CIC34 report. Every CIC must prepare a community interest report for each financial year — what the company did for its community, what directors were paid, and any transfers of assets. Companies House forwards it to the CIC Regulator. A dormant CIC still files one; it just says, in substance, "the company did not trade this year".
The £15 fee. Ordinary companies file accounts free. A CIC pays £15 with every set of accounts — cheque on paper, card online.
The package rule. Accounts, CIC34 and fee must be delivered together as one package. Accounts sent without the report and fee aren't a valid filing.

Everything else — the dormant, micro-entity, small or full format of the accounts themselves, the 9 months after year end deadline, the late filing penalties that start at £150 — is identical to an ordinary limited company.

The routes Companies House accepts

Paper, as one package

Print the accounts, the completed CIC34, and a £15 cheque payable to Companies House, and post them together. Everything about paper filing that's risky for ordinary companies — postal time counting against your deadline, errors bouncing back weeks later — applies here too, so post early and keep proof of postage.

The online CIC service

Companies House runs a dedicated “file your CIC accounts” service. It needs a Companies House account and your authentication code, takes the £15 by card, and supports full accounts and accountant-prepared package accounts — not the dormant, micro-entity or abridged formats. A dormant CIC can still use it by preparing its (nil) figures in small-company full format rather than the short dormant format.

Through an accountant

Accountants' software can prepare the accounts and CIC34 as a single package for upload through the Companies House service. This is the usual route for CICs that already have an accountant — but it is a manual upload, not a software submission: no service can file a CIC's accounts the way ordinary companies' accounts are filed.

One more paper-only quirk: amended CIC accounts cannot be filed online at all — corrections go by post.

What a dormant CIC files, year by year

A dormant CIC's annual routine looks like this:

Accounts + CIC34 + £15 to Companies House by the accounts deadline, as above.
A confirmation statement — this one works exactly like an ordinary company's, online with no CIC extras.
Corporation tax: if HMRC has agreed the company is dormant for corporation tax, no CT600 is due unless HMRC issues a notice to file. CIC status makes no difference to tax — CICs get no exemptions and follow the normal dormancy rules. Once a notice does arrive, this is the one part of a CIC's filing that DormantFile can handle — see the Company Tax Return section further down.

Worth knowing before you settle in for the long haul: the CIC Regulator has said CICs are not expected to stay dormant for an extended period — around five years dormant and the company risks failing the community interest test. If the CIC has no realistic prospect of activity, the honest options are converting to an ordinary limited company or dissolving it.

The Company Tax Return: the part DormantFile does file

Everything above is about the accounts, and none of it changes for the CT600. A CIC's Company Tax Return works exactly like any other company's — there's no CIC-specific box on the form, and HMRC accepts it from commercial software the same way it does for a standard limited company.

If HMRC has agreed the CIC is dormant for Corporation Tax, nothing is due unless HMRC issues a notice to deliver a return. That's the normal dormancy rule, and CIC status changes none of it.
Once a notice arrives, a return is due — DormantFile files it: a nil CT600 declaring the company dormant, with your own UTR and Government Gateway login, the same two-minute process as for any other company.
No notice means nothing to file yet. A CIC that's never had one can still add itself to DormantFile and be tracked from there — CT600 periods are always entered by you rather than calculated by us, so there's nothing to file until a notice arrives and a period is added.

See does DormantFile support CIC companies? for the full split between what we file (the Company Tax Return) and what we don't (the accounts, above).

Will this change in 2028?

From April 2028, all companies must file accounts through commercial software under the Companies House reforms, and the CIC Regulator has said it is working with Companies House towards a fully digital CIC filing service. How CIC packages fit the software-only regime hasn't been spelled out yet. Until it is, the routes above are what exists.

Key points

Every CIC files accounts with a CIC34 report and a £15 fee, as one package — dormant CICs included. There is no AA02 route and no free filing for CICs.
Companies House accepts CIC accounts on paper or via its own online CIC service only — never through WebFiling or any filing software, which is why software services (ours included) can't file a CIC's accounts.
The online service supports full and package accounts; dormant-format accounts as such go by post, or get prepared in full format.
Deadlines and penalties are the same as any company: usually 9 months after year end, £150+ the moment it's late.
The confirmation statement is entirely normal, and so is the Company Tax Return — DormantFile files it once HMRC has issued a notice to deliver one. It's only the accounts filing that's special.