Something has shifted in how UK compliance deadlines behave, and a lot of business owners haven’t caught up to it yet.
Ten years ago, a missed filing was an irritation. You paid £150, apologised to your accountant, and got on with the week. That is no longer the arithmetic. HMRC now charges 7.75% on late tax. Late payment penalties layer on at day 15, again at day 30, and then accrue daily. Companies House has stopped being a passive register and started rejecting filings outright when a director hasn’t verified their identity. And for roughly 864,000 sole traders and landlords, the number of statutory reporting events per year went from one to five in April.
We’ve spent more than fifteen years preparing accounts, returns and statutory filings for UK businesses and for the practices that serve them. What follows is the deadline picture as it actually stands in 2026 – not a generic checklist, but the dates that matter, the ones that reliably catch people out, and what each one costs when it slips.
Why 2026 is a harder compliance year than the last few
Three structural changes landed within a few months of each other. Individually, each is manageable. Together, they’ve made the UK statutory deadlines 2026 calendar meaningfully more demanding than 2024 or 2025.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax went live on 6 April 2026.
Sole traders and landlords whose combined gross income from self-employment and property exceeded £50,000 on their 2024/25 return are now required to keep digital records and submit four quarterly updates a year, plus a year-end Final Declaration. The threshold drops to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028, so the population affected grows sharply each year.
HMRC’s free Company Tax Return service closed on 31 March 2026.
From 1 April 2026, CT600 returns must be filed through commercial software. Companies that had quietly self-filed through the old joint HMRC/Companies House service for years suddenly needed either software or an agent. Historic filings held in that portal are also no longer retrievable.
Companies House identity verification enters its enforcement phase this November.
Verification became compulsory for new appointments on 18 November 2025. The twelve-month transition for existing directors and people with significant control ends on 18 November 2026. After that, an unverified director is a blocked filing – and a blocked filing can mean a late one.
There is a fourth change worth flagging for accounts preparation rather than filing: the FRS 102 periodic review amendments apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026, bringing on-balance-sheet lease accounting, a revised revenue model, and new mandatory disclosures for small companies reporting under Section 1A. If your year-end is 31 December 2026, that first set of restated comparatives needs planning now, not next March.
Companies House filing deadlines
Annual accounts filing UK
Your accounts deadline runs from your accounting reference date (ARD), not the calendar year:
| Company type | Filing deadline |
| Private company or LLP | 9 months after the ARD |
| Public company | 6 months after the ARD |
| First accounts (private) | 21 months after the date of incorporation |
| First accounts (public) | 18 months after the date of incorporation |
So a company with a 31 March 2026 year-end files by 31 December 2026. A 31 December 2026 year-end files by 30 September 2027.
Two things we correct constantly. First, shortening your accounting period extends your filing deadline to three months from the date of the shortening notice, if that is later — a legitimate manoeuvre when a set of accounts is genuinely stuck, but only if the notice reaches Companies House before the original deadline. Second, an extension application must be filed before the deadline passes and needs a real reason. “The bookkeeping isn’t finished” is not one.
On the software-only filing mandate: Companies House paused it in January 2026, alongside the planned removal of abridged accounts and the requirement for small and micro entities to file a profit and loss account. No replacement date has been set, and at least 21 months’ notice will be given. Treat it as deferred, not cancelled. Firms that move to iXBRL-capable accounts production now will not be caught out later.
Confirmation statement deadline
The confirmation statement (CS01) is due within 14 days of the end of your review period. The review period is twelve months from incorporation, or twelve months from the date of your last statement.
That 14-day window is the tightest recurring deadline in UK company compliance, and it is the one we see missed most often – usually because someone assumes it works like the accounts deadline. It does not. There is no penalty as such, but persistent failure is a criminal offence for the directors and can lead to the company being struck off.
Two 2026-specific points:
- The filing fee rose to £50 on 1 February 2026, alongside increases across the board (digital incorporation is now £100).
- Your confirmation statement is now the trigger point for identity verification. If a director hasn’t verified and provided their personal code, the statement can be rejected. That turns an administrative task into a blocked filing.
Identity verification: the 18 November 2026 deadline
Every existing director and PSC must complete identity verification by 18 November 2026 at the latest. In practice, most companies hit it earlier – at their next confirmation statement date.
Verification is done either directly through GOV. UK One Login, which takes ten to fifteen minutes with a valid passport and a reasonable UK credit footprint, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). It cannot be done by your accountant on your behalf unless that firm is registered as an ACSP.
If you use an agent to file, check they are ACSP-registered. Since spring 2026, third-party filing at Companies House has been restricted to verified officers and employees of the company, or to registered ACSPs.
Late filing penalties at Companies House
These are automatic. Companies House does not issue warnings and rarely accepts appeals.
| How late | Private company / LLP | Public company |
| Up to 1 month | £150 | £750 |
| 1 to 3 months | £375 | £1,500 |
| 3 to 6 months | £750 | £3,000 |
| More than 6 months | £1,500 | £7,500 |
Penalties double where accounts were also filed late for the previous financial year. A small company two years behind is looking at £3,000, on top of whatever HMRC is charging separately.
Corporation Tax deadline UK
The single most misunderstood pair of dates in UK business tax deadlines 2026 is this: you pay Corporation Tax before you file the return.
| Obligation | Deadline |
| Pay Corporation Tax (profits under £1.5m) | 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period |
| File the CT600 return | 12 months after the end of the accounting period |
A 31 March 2026 year-end means tax due by 1 January 2027 and the return due by 31 March 2027. That three-month gap is deliberate, and it means you need a reliable profit figure long before the return is finalised. Businesses that leave accounts preparation until month eleven are guaranteed to pay late.
Quarterly instalment payments
Larger companies pay earlier. Thresholds are divided by the number of associated companies, which catches a lot of small groups off guard.
- Large (augmented profits over £1.5m): four instalments in months 7, 10, 13 and 16 measured from the start of the accounting period.
- Very large (over £20m): months 3, 6, 9 and 12 – so the final instalment falls before the year has even ended.
Interest on underpaid instalments currently runs at 6.25%.
Late filing penalties
| Delay | Penalty |
| 1 day | £100 |
| 3 months | A further £100 |
| 6 months | HMRC estimates the liability and adds 10% of the unpaid tax |
| 12 months | A further 10% of the unpaid tax |
Miss three consecutive deadlines and the £100 fixed penalties become £500 each.
The filing route changed in April 2026
CT600s can no longer be submitted through HMRC’s free online service. You need recognised commercial software, or an agent who has it. If your company has always self-filed and you haven’t dealt with this yet, sort it well before your next deadline — not the week of.
VAT return deadlines UK
For most VAT-registered businesses on standard quarterly returns, the deadline for both submission and payment is one calendar month and seven days after the end of the VAT period.
| VAT quarter ending | Return and payment due |
| 31 August 2026 | 7 October 2026 |
| 30 September 2026 | 7 November 2026 |
| 31 October 2026 | 7 December 2026 |
| 30 November 2026 | 7 January 2027 |
| 31 December 2026 | 7 February 2027 |
Variations to watch: businesses on the Annual Accounting Scheme file one return within two months of the scheme year-end, with nine monthly or three quarterly interim payments; businesses with an annual VAT liability over £2.3m are on payments on account and pay monthly, on a different timetable altogether.
Direct debit payers get a few extra days for collection, but the submission deadline does not move.
The penalty regime
Late submission works on points. One point per late return; at four points (for quarterly filers) a £200 penalty applies, and £200 again for each further late return while you sit at the threshold. Points expire after a clean period.
Late payment is where the real cost is, and it was sharpened in April 2025:
- Day 15: 3% of the outstanding VAT
- Day 30: a further 3%
- Day 31 onwards: a second penalty accruing daily at an annualised 10%
Those rates rise to 4% / 4% / 10% from 2027/28. Late payment interest at 7.75% runs alongside all of it, from day one.
The practical takeaway: if you cannot pay, file anyway and contact HMRC before day 15. A Time to Pay arrangement agreed in time stops penalties accruing, though interest continues.
PAYE deadlines 2026
Payroll generates more individual deadlines than any other area, and they repeat every month.
In-year obligations
| Obligation | Deadline |
| Full Payment Submission (FPS) | On or before each payday |
| Employer Payment Summary (EPS), where needed | 19th of the following tax month |
| PAYE and NIC payment – electronic | 22nd of the following month |
| PAYE and NIC payment – post | 19th of the following month |
| Quarterly payment (average liability under £1,500/month) | 22nd after the quarter ends |
| CIS monthly return | 19th of the month |
The FPS deadline is the one that trips up employers who run payroll retrospectively. “On or before payday” means exactly that — an FPS submitted three days after employees were paid is late, even if the money reached HMRC on time.
Annual payroll deadlines
| Obligation | Deadline (for 2026/27) |
| Final FPS or EPS for the tax year | 19 April 2027 |
| Issue P60s to employees | 31 May 2027 |
| File P11D and P11D(b) | 6 July 2027 |
| Employment-related securities annual return | 6 July 2027 |
| Apply for a PAYE Settlement Agreement | 5 July 2027 |
| Pay Class 1A NIC (electronic) | 22 July 2027 |
| Pay PSA liability (electronic) | 22 October 2027 |
One planning point on benefits in kind
Mandatory payrolling of benefits was originally set for April 2026, then deferred. HMRC confirmed a phased approach in June 2026: from 6 April 2027, company cars, car fuel, vans, van fuel and employer-provided medical benefits must be payrolled in real time. Most remaining benefits follow in April 2028. Employment-related loans and living accommodation stay on P11D for the time being.
So P11Ds are still required for 2026/27 – that is, due 6 July 2027. But employers who never registered for voluntary payrolling face a real cash-flow pinch in July 2027, when the Class 1A lump sum for 2026/27 falls due at the same time as the first real-time Class 1A payments for 2027/28. Model it before you get there.
Self Assessment and Making Tax Digital
The dates that haven’t changed
| Obligation | Deadline |
| Paper return for 2025/26 | 31 October 2026 |
| Online return for 2025/26 | 31 January 2027 |
| Balancing payment for 2025/26 + first payment on account for 2026/27 | 31 January 2027 |
| Second payment on account for 2026/27 | 31 July 2027 |
| Register for Self Assessment (new taxpayers, 2025/26) | 5 October 2026 |
Late filing costs £100 immediately, then £10 a day from three months (capped at £900), then 5% of tax due or £300 (whichever is greater) at six and twelve months. Late payment adds 5% surcharges at 30 days, six months and twelve months, plus interest.
The dates that are new
For anyone mandated into MTD for Income Tax from 6 April 2026, quarterly updates for 2026/27 fall on:
| Quarter (standard periods) | Deadline |
| 6 April – 5 July 2026 | 7 August 2026 |
| 6 April – 5 October 2026 | 7 November 2026 |
| 6 April – 5 January 2027 | 7 February 2027 |
| 6 April – 5 April 2027 | 7 May 2027 |
| Final Declaration for 2026/27 | 31 January 2028 |
Updates are cumulative – each one restates the year to date and supersedes the last, which means an error in Q1 corrects itself in Q2. If your bookkeeping runs on calendar months, you can elect calendar quarters in your software, but that changes the period ends, not the submission dates.
On penalties for year one: HMRC is not issuing penalty points for late quarterly updates during 2026/27. That easement is narrow. It does not cover the Final Declaration; it does not cover late payment, and all four updates must still be submitted before the return can be filed. Treat the soft landing as breathing room for the process, not permission to skip a quarter.
The pinch point to diarise now is late January into early February 2027: the 2025/26 Self Assessment return is due on 31 January, and the third MTD quarterly update lands seven days later. Anyone in their first MTD year is finishing their last pre-MTD year at the same time.
Deadlines that quietly catch people out
These sit outside the main cycle and are missed precisely because they’re annual and easy to forget.
- ATED return and payment – 30 April each year, for companies holding UK residential property worth over £500,000. The return is due even where a relief reduces the charge to nil.
- Employment-related securities annual return – 6 July. Required for any registered share scheme, including one-off unapproved option grants. Filing a nil return is mandatory once a scheme is registered.
- Pension auto-enrolment re-declaration of compliance – every three years, within five months of the third anniversary of your staging or duties start date. The Pensions Regulator fines for non-compliance.
- P11D(b) even where you’ve payrolled – the Class 1A return is still required.
- Trust Registration Service updates – within 90 days of any change in trustees or beneficial ownership.
What’s left in the 2026 calendar
If you are reading this in the second half of 2026, these are the HMRC deadlines 2026, and Companies House dates still ahead:
| Date | What’s due |
| 5 October 2026 | Register for Self Assessment for 2025/26 |
| 7 October 2026 | VAT return and payment, quarter ended 31 August |
| 22 October 2026 | PAYE Settlement Agreement payment for 2025/26 (electronic) |
| 28 October 2026 | Autumn Budget |
| 31 October 2026 | Paper Self Assessment return for 2025/26 |
| 7 November 2026 | Second MTD quarterly update; VAT quarter ended 30 September |
| 18 November 2026 | Identity verification transition ends for existing directors and PSCs |
| 7 December 2026 | VAT return and payment, quarter ended 31 October |
| 30 December 2026 | Online Self Assessment filing, if you want tax under £3,000 collected via your PAYE code |
| 31 December 2026 | Accounts filing deadline for 31 March 2026 year ends |
| 1 January 2027 | Corporation Tax payment for 31 March 2026 year ends |
| 31 January 2027 | Online Self Assessment return; balancing payment and first payment on account |
| 7 February 2027 | Third MTD quarterly update |
The Autumn Budget on 28 October is worth marking even though it isn’t a filing deadline. It is the first Budget of a new administration, and measures announced there will shape the 2027/28 rate and threshold picture. Anyone considering a transaction sensitive to capital gains, dividend or property tax treatment should have that conversation before the end of October rather than after.
What missing a deadline actually costs now
It is worth putting the numbers together, because clients rarely see them in one place.
A company that files accounts three months late, pays a £40,000 Corporation Tax bill five months late, and misses a VAT payment of £18,000 by 45 days is looking at roughly:
- £375 Companies House late filing penalty
- £1,290 in Corporation Tax interest at 7.75% over five months
- £1,080 in VAT late payment penalties (3% at day 15, 3% at day 30)
- Further VAT late payment penalty accruing at 10% annualised from day 31
- VAT interest on top
That’s well over £3,000 in avoidable cost, none of it deductible for tax, and none of it reflecting anything about the underlying business other than the timing of its paperwork.
The interest rate matters more than people assume. HMRC’s late payment rate has been set at base rate plus 4% since April 2025 — an increase of 1.5 percentage points on the old formula. With the base rate held at 3.75%, the current charge is 7.75%. Repayment interest, when HMRC owes you, is 2.75%. That five-point spread is deliberate policy, and it makes HMRC one of the more expensive creditors on most balance sheets.
Why deadlines get missed – and what actually prevents it
In fifteen years we have seen the same four causes over and over. None of them is carelessness.
The records aren’t ready. The deadline was never the problem; the bookkeeping was three months behind. This is now more exposed than it used to be, because MTD quarterly updates make the state of the records visible four times a year instead of once.
Nobody owns the date. In owner-managed businesses, compliance sits with whoever has time. When that person is on holiday or leaves, the calendar leaves with them.
Deadlines are tracked by tax, not by entity. VAT in one place, payroll in another, Companies House in a third. Nobody has a single view of what a given company owes in a given month.
The dependency chain is invisible. The Corporation Tax payment date depends on the accounts being substantially complete three months before the return is due. The confirmation statement depends on every director having verified. These dependencies do not appear on a deadline list.
What works is unglamorous:
- Build one calendar per entity, covering every obligation – Companies House, Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE, MTD, and the annual oddities like ATED and ERS.
- Work backwards from each deadline to the date the underlying records must be complete. That internal date is the one you manage to.
- Close the books monthly. Not quarterly, not at year-end. Monthly closes convert every deadline into a review rather than a reconstruction.
- Name an owner for each obligation, with a named backup.
- Set the internal deadline two weeks early. Filing systems go down. HMRC’s service status page is not fiction – Companies House itself suspended online filing in March 2026 after a security issue.
- Verify directors now, not in November.
A note for UK accounting practices
If you run a practice rather than a business, the 2026 calendar has changed your capacity model, not just your clients’ diaries.
MTD for Income Tax converted a large tranche of annual compliance work into quarterly work. A firm with 200 MTD-mandated clients now has roughly 800 additional submission events a year, concentrated into four narrow windows – and the February window collides with the tail of Self Assessment season. Add the Companies House identity verification programme, ACSP registration, the move to software-only CT600 filing, and the FRS 102 transition work for December 2026 year ends, and the peaks have become both higher and more frequent.
This is the pressure our clients talk to us about most. Outsourced bookkeeping, accounts preparation and payroll processing lets a practice absorb quarterly volume without hiring for a peak that only lasts a fortnight — and keeps senior people on review, advisory and client conversations rather than on data entry. Whether you build that capacity in-house or outsource it, the point is the same: the 2026 calendar rewards firms that resolved their capacity question before the February crunch, not during it.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main UK statutory deadlines 2026 for a limited company?
Annual accounts nine months after your year end, Corporation Tax payment nine months and one day after year end, the CT600 return twelve months after year end, the confirmation statement within 14 days of your review period ending, VAT returns one month and seven days after each quarter, and PAYE payments by the 22nd of each month.
Has the Corporation Tax deadline UK changed in 2026?
The dates have not changed. The filing method has. Since 1 April 2026, CT600 returns must be submitted through commercial software – HMRC’s free online service closed on 31 March 2026.
What is the confirmation statement deadline?
Within 14 days of the end of your review period, which runs twelve months from incorporation or from your last statement. The fee rose to £50 on 1 February 2026, and every director must have completed identity verification for the statement to be accepted.
Do I have to file MTD quarterly updates in 2026?
Only if you are a sole trader or landlord whose combined gross self-employment and property income exceeded £50,000 on your 2024/25 tax return. The first update was due 7 August 2026, with the next on 7 November 2026.
What happens if I miss a quarterly MTD update in the first year?
HMRC is not issuing penalty points for late quarterly updates during 2026/27. But every update must still be submitted before you can file your Final Declaration, and late payment penalties and interest are unaffected.
What are the VAT return deadlines UK for standard quarterly filers?
One calendar month and seven days after the period end, for both the return and the payment.
How much is HMRC late payment interest in 2026?
7.75% a year, charged daily, set at the Bank of England base rate plus 4%.
When must directors verify their identity with Companies House?
By 18 November 2026 at the latest, though most companies will hit it sooner at their next confirmation statement date.
Getting ahead of the calendar
The deadlines in this guide are not negotiable, but the stress around them depends entirely on how early the underlying work gets done. Every penalty we have ever seen a client pay traced back to the same thing: records that weren’t ready when the date arrived.
If you would like a full compliance calendar mapped for your business or your client portfolio – every date, every dependency, every internal cut-off – we’re happy to put one together.
This article reflects UK legislation, HMRC guidance and Companies House requirements as at 22 August 2026. Rates, thresholds and filing requirements change – the Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026 is likely to affect several. Always confirm current positions on GOV. UK or with your adviser before relying on a date. This guide is general information and does not constitute tax advice for any specific business.
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