Guide · Company formation
What is a confirmation statement?
It is a once-a-year declaration that the information already on your company’s Companies House record is still correct. You are confirming, not reporting. It is not your accounts and nota tax return — it is filed on form CS01, costs £50 digitally, and is due within 14 days of the end of your review period.
The three filings founders keep confusing
Almost every “do I really need to do this again?” question comes from treating these as one obligation. They are three, with three deadlines, and filing one does nothing for the others.
| Filing | Goes to | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmation statement | Companies House | Your public record — directors, address, owners, shares — is still accurate. |
| Annual accounts | Companies House + HMRC | What the company earned, owns and owes over its financial year. |
| Corporation tax return | HMRC only | Taxable profit for the accounting period, and the tax due on it. |
What you are actually confirming
Check each of these before you confirm. Anything that has changed must be corrected first— some changes are filed separately and the confirmation statement then simply ratifies the updated record.
- Directors and their service addresses. Appointments and resignations are separate filings; the statement confirms the resulting list is right.
- Registered office address. If you moved, or moved off your home address, this is where the record catches up — see registered office vs home address.
- People with significant control (PSCs). Usually anyone holding more than 25% of shares or voting rights. This is the part fraud reform cares most about, so accuracy matters.
- Share capital and shareholders. Shares issued, classes, and who held them during the period.
- SIC codes. What the company actually does. Founders routinely leave a placeholder code from formation that no longer describes the business.
- Registered email address. Mandatory since the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. Not published publicly — it is how Companies House reaches you.
- Statement of lawful purpose. A yearly declaration that the company’s intended activities are lawful.
The deadline, precisely
Your review period runs 12 months from incorporation, or from the date of your last confirmation statement. You then have 14 daysfrom the end of that period to file. That is the whole rule — but the 14 days is short enough that treating the anniversary as the deadline is the safer habit.
You can file early. Doing so ends the current review period and starts a fresh 12 months from that date, which is a legitimate way to move the anniversary somewhere more convenient — next to your accounting date, say.
What it costs
£50 filed digitally, £110 on paper, once per review period. Companies House raised its fees on 1 February 2026; the digital fee had been £34, which is why a lot of published advice — and a lot of accountants’ standing fee notes — still quotes the old number.
Updating your details during the year is free. The fee attaches to the statement, not to the changes, so there is no reason to sit on a correction until the anniversary. For how this sits against everything else a company pays, see what it really costs to start and run a limited company.
If you miss it
Companies House may issue a financial penalty, and it can begin proceedings to strike the company off the register. Directors also commit an offence. The consequence people underestimate is what striking off does to assets: the company stops existing, and whatever is still held in its name — cash in the business account included — passes to the Crown as bona vacantia.
It is recoverable. Restoration is also slow, involves a court or an administrative application, and costs multiples of the fee that would have prevented it. Set a calendar reminder two weeks before the anniversary and the problem never starts.
Launching a company? Start it right.
ProSolve handles formation, identity verification, the registered office and the workspace setup as one fixed-price launch — so the record is correct from day one and your first confirmation statement is a formality.
See launch packages →Frequently asked questions
What is a confirmation statement, in one sentence?+
It is a once-a-year declaration to Companies House that the information already on your company's public record — directors, registered office, people with significant control, share capital and SIC codes — is still correct. You are confirming, not reporting: if everything is unchanged, you simply confirm it. It is filed on form CS01.
Is it the same as annual accounts or a corporation tax return?+
No, and this is the most common confusion. Three separate obligations exist. The confirmation statement checks your register entry and goes to Companies House. Annual accounts report your finances and also go to Companies House (and to HMRC). The corporation tax return reports taxable profit and goes to HMRC alone. They have different deadlines and filing one does nothing for the others.
How much does it cost in 2026?+
£50 to file digitally, or £110 on paper. Companies House raised its fees on 1 February 2026 — the digital fee was £34 before that date, so older articles and even some accountants' fee schedules still quote the lower figure. There is one fee per 12-month review period, not per change: if you update details mid-year the update itself is free.
When is it due?+
Your review period runs for 12 months from incorporation, or from the date of your last confirmation statement. You then have 14 days from the end of that review period to file. You can file early and start a fresh 12 months, which is useful if you want to align it with your accounting date or with a director's identity verification.
Do I have to file one if nothing changed?+
Yes. The statement exists to confirm the record is accurate, so "no changes" is a valid answer but not an excuse to skip filing. A dormant company with one director and no activity still owes a confirmation statement every year.
What happens if I miss the deadline?+
Companies House may issue a financial penalty, and it can begin action to strike the company off the register. Striking off is not a quiet administrative event: the company ceases to exist and any assets still in its name — including a bank balance — pass to the Crown. Directors also commit an offence. It is recoverable, but restoration is far more expensive and slower than the £50 would have been.
What is the registered email address I keep being asked for?+
Since the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, every company must keep a registered email address with Companies House, and existing companies had to supply one on their first confirmation statement dated on or after 5 March 2024. It must be an address where mail would actually reach someone acting for the company. It is not published on the public register — Companies House uses it to contact you.
What is the statement of lawful purpose?+
Every confirmation statement now carries a declaration that the company's intended future activities are lawful. It is a tick, but it is a legal statement — the point of the reform is that someone has to affirm it each year rather than a company simply persisting on the register unexamined.
This guide is general information, not legal or accountancy advice, and reflects the rules as we understand them in 2026. Companies House fees and filing requirements change — confirm current figures and deadlines on GOV.UK or with your accountant before you file.