New Regulations have temporarily extended various deadlines for filing documents at Companies House. The extensions will provide companies with welcome breathing space to focus on the significant pressures they face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The changes made by the Regulations include:
- the extension of the accounts and reporting deadline by 3 months – to 12 months for private companies and 9 months for public companies;
- the 21 day deadline for registering a charge has been extended to 31 days;
- annual confirmation statements are ordinarily required to be filed 14 days after the end of a company’s confirmation period. This period has now been extended to 42 days; and
- certain notices of relevant events (such as notification of a person with significant control and notification of a change of director) would ordinarily need to be submitted within 14 days of the event. This period has also been extended to 42 days.
Various provisions of the Companies Act 2006 also apply to limited liability partnerships, unregistered companies and European Economic Interest Groupings. The temporary changes will also apply to these entities in most cases without the need for express provision in the instrument applicable to such entities.
The Regulations apply to filing deadlines which fall between 27 June 2020 and 5 April 2021 (although this period may be extended).
The Companies etc. (Filing Requirements) (Temporary Modifications) Regulations 2020 (Regulations) were published on 26 June 2020.