Confirmation statements to replace annual returns from 30 June
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Confirmation statements to replace annual returns from 30 June
This blog was co-written by Clare McCauley (Associate) and Ryan Mitchell (Trainee Solicitor)
Companies with an annual return due date on or after 30 June 2016 will need to submit the new confirmation statement in place of their annual return. Directors should ensure that their persons with significant control (PSC) registers are up to date as this information is now included on the confirmation statement.
Forward planning is essential as companies will have only 14 days (reduced from 28 days) from their due date to submit their confirmation statement.
PSC register
Companies should by now have created their PSC registers or be proceeding in earnest with finalising and confirming the last few details. PSC registers should be kept up to date at all times in order to comply with the company’s statutory obligations but also to ensure that when the confirmation statement filing date rolls around, all relevant information is already to hand.
Confirmation statement
The new confirmation statement will consist of two parts:
- The confirmation (form CS01, 2 pages) which confirms the registered office, SAIL address (where statutory registers are kept), location of company records and officer appointments; and
- The additional information (form CS01 Additional Information, 28 pages) where the company must additionally confirm the following details:
- standard industrial classification (SIC) code;
- statement of capital;
- trading status;
- shareholder information; and
- PSC information (taken from the company’s PSC register).
The company’s first confirmation statement will need to include all of the above information. Subsequent returns need only specify changes to the information held by Companies House (i.e. changes since the last confirmation statement was submitted).
It is important to note that the information contained in the confirmation statement will be publicly accessible. Care should be taken to ensure that residential addresses are not unintentionally used on the company’s public-facing PSC register as these could easily be included in the confirmation statement and published at Companies House. A separate, non-disclosable PSC residential addresses list should be maintained for this purpose.
Deadlines and cost
Digital filing of the confirmation statement costs £13 per year and paper filing £40. There is no upper limit to the number of confirmation statements a company can file during a year so additional voluntary submissions do not incur a cost.
Companies now have 14 days from their due date to submit a confirmation statement.
If you have any questions about the new confirmation statement regime or your company’s PSC register then please contact me.