5. Company annual return
You must send Companies House a company annual return every year, within 28 days of the anniversary of the company’s incorporation.
You can send the company annual return online. It costs £13 to send online.
You can also fill in and send the company annual return on paper using form AR01. It costs £40 if you want to send paper forms.
If you miss the deadline, Companies House can close down your company or prosecute you. You could also be disqualified from being a company director.
What the company annual return includes
It must include details of:
- the company’s registered office address
- what type of business the company runs (eg retail, accountancy, catering)
- the address where the company’s list of shareholders is kept
- the type of limited company (eg limited by shares, limited by guarantee)
- name and address of all company directors (and company secretary if you have one)
- the number and value of shares issued by the company and who owns them
- where details of ‘debentures’ (a type of loan the company has taken out with a promise to repay at a specific time in the future) are kept
