How to keep your dormant company compliant without an accountant

By Ben Davies · Updated 5 October 2026

Your company does nothing, but the paperwork never stops. Whether you are keeping it for a future project, protecting a company name, or cannot close it because of an outstanding Bounce Back Loan — you are still legally required to file every year. And paying an accountant £100+ to submit nil returns for a company with zero activity feels like money you should not have to spend.

The good news: if your company is genuinely dormant, you don't need an accountant. Here is the complete checklist, and how DormantFile takes care of the filings on it.

Your annual compliance checklist

A dormant company has at most three filing obligations a year. Nothing more.

1. Annual dormant accounts — Companies House

A set of dormant company accounts: a balance sheet and a statement that the company had no significant accounting transactions during the period. For a company that never traded, the balance sheet is often just its share capital. A company that traded before going dormant shows what it still holds and owes, unchanged.

• Due: 9 months after your accounting reference date
• Filed with: Companies House
• How: DormantFile files them — see how to file dormant company accounts

2. Nil CT600 Corporation Tax return — HMRC

A CT600 return reporting zero income and zero Corporation Tax liability.

• Due: 12 months after the end of your accounting period
• Filed with: HMRC. Since HMRC closed its free filing service on 31 March 2026, the return goes through commercial software, signed with your Government Gateway login (your HMRC login).
• How: DormantFile files it — see how to file a nil CT600
• Note: Only required when HMRC sends a notice to deliver one. A notice, once sent, has to be answered, even for a dormant period. Not sure? See do I need to file a CT600?

3. Confirmation statement (CS01) — Companies House

A confirmation statement confirming your company details (directors, registered office, share capital) are up to date.

• Due: At least every 12 months from the date of incorporation (or the last CS01)
• Filed with: Companies House, by you — DormantFile reminds you when it's due
• Cost: £50 online (£110 on paper)

That is it

No VAT returns, unless the company is still registered for VAT — a dormant company that stays registered has to send nil VAT returns. No payroll. No self-assessment for the company. No management accounts. Three filings, once a year each.

One obligation that isn't a filing: every director and person with significant control has to verify their identity with Companies House, each by a date the register sets for them. Dormant companies are not exempt.

One personal footnote: if you file your own Self Assessment return for any reason, from the 2025/26 tax year you must declare the directorship on it — see the new SA102 rules for dormant company directors. That's a box-filling exercise on your personal return, not a company filing.

What happens if you miss a deadline

Both Companies House and HMRC issue penalties automatically. Being dormant doesn't exempt a company, and there is no warning and no grace period. A penalty can be appealed if you have good grounds.

Companies House (late accounts):

There is one penalty per set of late accounts, set by how late they arrive, and it doubles if last year's were late too. Filing now won't cancel a penalty already due, but it stops it moving into a higher band.

HMRC (late CT600, for returns due on or after 1 April 2026):

• 1 day late: £200
• 3 months late: another £200
• 6 months late: 10% of estimated tax (may be £0 for dormant companies, but HMRC can make its own estimate)
• More again if the return is the third late one in a row

Persistent non-filing risks compulsory strike-off by Companies House. Full details in our late filing penalties guide.

The cheapest legitimate way to stay compliant

For comparison, an accountant typically charges £80–£150+ per company for the accounts and CT600 alone — and you still need to file the CS01 yourself or pay them extra. With multiple dormant companies, those fees multiply fast. DormantFile's Multiple plan covers up to 10 companies for £39/year (£3.90 each).

For a full cost comparison, see how much it costs to file dormant accounts.

What DormantFile files vs what needs an accountant

Everything above assumes your company is genuinely dormant — no income, no expenditure, no bank interest, no transactions of any kind during the period.

If any of the following apply, you need an accountant:

• The company traded during part of the period
• The company received any income (including bank interest, rent or dividends), so its tax return has income to report
• The company bought, sold or wrote off anything during the period

What you don't need an accountant for is a balance sheet with figures on it. A company that traded before going dormant can still hold assets, owe money or be owed money — a director's loan, a bill still owed to a supplier, money a customer still owes it and is still expected to pay — as long as nothing about it changes during the year: nothing paid or collected, no interest added, nothing written off or written down. Its dormant accounts show those figures unchanged, and DormantFile files them. The same goes for a company that didn't trade but had a transaction or two, typically a Bounce Back Loan being repaid: it files micro-entity accounts, which we file too.

Not sure whether the company is dormant? Don't guess: filing dormant accounts for a company that is not actually dormant is a legal offence. Our free dormancy checker gives you an answer in eight questions, and our guide on how to check if your company is dormant walks through the common scenarios. Our guide on whether you need an accountant covers the decision in detail.

Staying on top of deadlines

The real risk with dormant company compliance is not complexity — it is forgetting. The company does nothing all year, the deadline arrives, and you have already missed it.

DormantFile sends automatic email reminders at 90, 30, 14, 7, 3, and 1 day before your accounts deadline, and reminds you about the confirmation statement too. That is six chances to remember before a penalty lands. CT600 periods are entered by you — we never work one out from the register, because nothing there holds one — but we remind you about any Corporation Tax deadline you add, on that same ladder and at no extra cost (HMRC's letter is always definitive). See how it works.

Beyond the dates, it keeps an eye on the rest of the company's year. It reads the Companies House register to show which directors still have to verify their identity, and reminds you before each one's date. It checks the register every day for changes you didn't make to the company's directors, address, owners or name, and for a strike-off notice, while there is still time to object. And if a letter arrives from HMRC or Companies House, photograph it and the letter decoder tells you what it is, what's due and what we can do about it. The reminders and register checks are free for one company on the Watchdog plan.

For the confirmation statement (CS01), DormantFile reminds you when it's due — but you file it yourself directly at Companies House (£50), as it isn't part of our filing service. File a few weeks before the anniversary of your last confirmation statement.

For a full breakdown of all your deadlines, see our guide on dormant company filing deadlines.

Key points

• A genuinely dormant company has up to three annual filings: accounts, a confirmation statement, and a CT600 whenever HMRC sends a notice to deliver one.
• You do not need an accountant if the company is genuinely dormant with no transactions and no income — figures left on the balance sheet from trading years don't change that.
• Total cost of the three filings: £69/year (DormantFile at £19 + CS01 at £50).
• Late filing penalties start at £150 (Companies House) and £200 (HMRC) and are issued automatically with no grace period.
• The biggest risk is forgetting. Set up reminders — DormantFile sends six before your accounts deadline (plus confirmation statement nudges), and the tax return deadlines you add — the CT600 periods you enter yourself — ride the same ladder at no extra cost.
• Not sure the company is dormant? Run the free dormancy checker before you file anything.