Your Limited Company director’s responsibilities and key dates throughout the financial year – what you need to file with HMRC and Companies House

Directors of Limited Companies have legal responsibilities, such as filing/submitting various forms and returns to Companies House and HMRC throughout the financial year. If you’re new to contracting you may be unsure as to what needs to be done and when, and it’s easy to get confused and miss deadlines.

In this blog we’ve taken a look at all the key dates a Limited Company contractor needs to be aware of.

Limited Company director responsibilities

As a director you have the legal responsibility to run your company, and are bound by a statutory code of practice and have certain legal obligations which you must meet.

When you form a Limited Company you create a separate legal entity from yourself, which contains its own legal framework and accountabilities, and its profits and losses belong to the company. Therefore decisions you make must be to the benefit of the company, and this includes ensuring the correct paperwork is filed correctly and on time.

What do you need to file?

Accounting reference date and accounting periods for filing information – HMRC and Companies House set dates for filing information in different ways:

When your company is first incorporated Companies House will issue it an ‘Accounting Reference Date’. The first Accounting Reference Date is the very last day of the month in which the first anniversary of incorporation falls. So the Accounting Reference Date for the first set of Company Accounts you’ll file will usually have a longer period than 12 months. For example, if you were to incorporate your company on December 7^th 2024, your Accounting Reference Date would most likely be 31^st December 2025.

For your Company Tax Return and payment of Corporation Tax, you’ll be provided an accounting period by HMRC, which will begin once you’ve started trading, and will end on your Accounting Reference Date.

Confirmation Statement – contains information about your company, the director/s, and any other administrative arrangements. It must also contain information about any Persons of Significant Control that are involved in your business. Confirmation Statements are completed once a year, and you’re able to file more than one per year if your company information has changed. If you fail to file your statement within 14 days of the end of the ‘review’ period it’s a criminal offence. If you’re a new Limited Company the review period begins on the date you incorporate, and ends 12 months later. A Confirmation Statement can only cover a period of 12 months.

Corporation Tax Payment – You’ll need to pay Corporation Tax to HMRC if your company made a profit during the accounting period. This must be paid nine months and one day after the accounting period.

Form CT600 – once a year you must file a CT600 form with HMRC, which includes details of your company’s income, minus any tax allowances or business expenses. What’s left is your taxable profit, and this will be used to calculate the total amount of Corporation Tax your company is due to pay. Your company’s first Corporation Tax return is due 12 months after your first yearend, and then within 12 months each year of your Accounting Period end.

National Insurance – must be paid if your salary exceeds the Primary Threshold of £12,570 per year, or £1,048 per month / £242 a week.

If your pay exceeds the NI Primary Threshold you will need to pay Employee’s NI. If you also pay yourself or any employees/directors above the secondary threshold of £9,100 per year or £758 per month/£175 a week, your company must also pay Employer’s NI.

If you run your company’s payroll monthly you will usually pay your NI on a quarterly basis also.

P60 – shows the total amount you’ve been paid through your Limited Company, including the amount of tax you’ve paid in that tax year. You must keep your P60 safe for:

• Completing your Self Assessment
• Reclaiming any overpaid National Insurance or Income Tax
• Mortgage or loan applications
• Tax credits application

If you have any employees, you must give them their P60 by May 31^st each year.

P11D – summarises the value of benefits in kind given to employees and directors in a tax year – 6 April to 5 April. If you provide benefits to yourself, employees or directors which are not included within the payroll then you must file a P11D with HMRC by 6^th July following the end of the tax year and keep a personal copy.

PAYE – information is submitted to HMRC monthly.

Payment on account – You must make the following payments on account every year, if you owe any personal tax:

• 1^st payment – must be made on account by 31 January
• 2^nd payment – must be made on account by 31 July

If the total amount of outstanding tax from the previous tax year exceeded £1,000, you must pay that amount plus a contribution towards the new tax year, based on an estimate which HMRC will provide to you.

You must then make a second payment for the new tax year by 31 July.

Self Assessment – As a director of your Limited Company, you must submit an annual Self Assessment, detailing your personal income and allowances to HMRC. It must include every detail from your employment income, any dividends you paid to yourself from your company, and any other sources of income such as rental or sole trader income.

This must be returned by 31 January each year, but you are able to file as soon as you have your P60 from the correct tax year.

Statutory Accounts / Yearend Accounts – your company’s finances are made public annually, in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and accounting standards. You must submit your company’s balance sheet, profit and loss account and other information in accounting notes. Your company’s very first accounting period is set to finish the last day of the month one year after it has been incorporated. Your first set of accounts are then due nine months after your company’s first yearend (or within 21 months of the company’s incorporation date, should the first accounting period be longer than 12 months).

Submitting your yearend accounts to Companies House is calculated to the exact day, so ensure you don’t miss it!

VAT Return – If your company is VAT registered, it is most likely that you are required to submit VAT returns to HMRC every 3 months in line with the quarters selected.

To calculate the VAT liability owed to HMRC, you must calculate the VAT element you have added to your sales invoices for the 3 months and deduct any VAT you have incurred on your business allowable expenditure.

If you’re a freelancer or contractor, you will most likely be on the Flat Rate Scheme (FRS) with a limited cost trader rate of 16.5%. This means you pay a lower percentage of VAT across to HMRC instead of reclaiming VAT on your business allowable expenses.

You must keep your VAT records digitally and use compatible Making Tax Digital software to submit your VAT returns.

Key dates to remember

If this seems like a lot of information to remember, you’d be right! There’s lots to be done, let alone run your company and complete the work required for your contracts. Below we’ve collated all the information to show you what a typical year might look like, if you were to incorporate your Limited Company on 1 January.

There’s lots to do and remember – let us help you out

We get it, you’re busy running your own Limited Company, so the last thing you need is trying to remember when certain things are due and what you need to do. So why not enlist the services of an accountant who can keep on track of everything for you?! Here at SG Accounting our team of expert contractor accountants are on your side, championing your money and ensuring you’re making the most from your hard earnt take home pay. If this sounds like the type of support and guidance you need form your accountant, get in touch today.