You’re not sure which authority you’ve notified
Companies House and HMRC are two separate bodies. Most founders notify one, assume they’re done, and unknowingly leave the other completely in the dark.
Miss your deadlines, and you risk losing the entire digital infrastructure you built your business on.
You set up a UK limited company to access Stripe, Amazon Seller Central, Wise, or PayPal. Right now the company isn’t trading – but the deadlines are still running.
Most founders don’t realise that Companies House and HMRC are two completely separate bodies – and both need to hear from you, separately, every single year.
Most dormant filings are straightforward. Let’s check your status in under 10 minutes.
No obligation. Response within 4 hours.
For a founder based in Karachi or Lahore, a UK limited company isn’t just a legal formality. It’s what lets you collect payments on Stripe, sell on Amazon, hold GBP in a Wise business account, and show up as a credible international business. If that company falls out of good standing, all of that stops.
That’s what makes dormant company compliance worth getting right. Not the paperwork itself – but what the paperwork is protecting.
Here’s what most non-resident founders are actually dealing with right now:
Companies House and HMRC are two separate bodies. Most founders notify one, assume they’re done, and unknowingly leave the other completely in the dark.
A single payment from your company account – even a £12 software subscription – can legally “wake up” your company and change your filing requirements entirely.
There are no automatic reminders. If you miss your deadline, you won’t find out until a penalty notice arrives – and by then it may already have escalated.
And you’re quietly hoping you haven’t already crossed a line. The danger isn’t that you’re doing anything illegal – it’s that your clean legal standing is quietly eroding while you wait to figure it out.
What’s really at stake
A struck-off company doesn’t just stop existing. It can blacklist your name across the UK financial ecosystem, making it harder to open a new entity, access banking, or apply for a UK visa later.
Not sure where you stand? Let’s find out.
Missed Companies House deadlines start at £150 and escalate to £1,500. At current exchange rates, that’s somewhere between PKR 55,000 and PKR 550,000 for paperwork that takes under a week to handle properly.
PKR equivalent: PKR 55,000 (1 month late) to PKR 550,000 (6+ months late) at current exchange rates.
This is the single most important thing on this page. Understand it once and you’ll avoid the mistake that catches out the majority of non-resident founders.
You file AA02 dormant accounts showing no significant accounting transactions occurred.
You formally notify HMRC that the company has no Corporation Tax liability for the period.
Key insight: Most non-resident founders only file with one authority. Both are always required.
| Requirement | Companies House | HMRC |
|---|---|---|
| Dormancy type | Declared (you file AA02 accounts) | Requested (you notify formally) |
| Annual accounts deadline | Based on accounting reference date | N/A |
| First accounts deadline | 21 months from incorporation | N/A |
| Confirmation Statement | Every 12 months (CS01) | Not applicable |
| VAT / PAYE obligations | Not involved | Must be separately deregistered |
| Penalty for missing | £150 rising to £1,500 | Automatic penalties + surcharges |
A freelance developer in Lahore sets up a UK LTD to invoice international clients. Work slows down, so he pauses operations. He files dormant accounts with Companies House, ticks it off his list, and moves on. Six months later, an HMRC penalty notice arrives at his registered office. He never notified HMRC. His VAT registration was still active. He now owes more in penalties than the original compliance filing would have cost for the entire year.
Companies House accounts, HMRC notification, VAT and PAYE deregistration – all under one service.
“Dormant” has a specific legal meaning. It doesn’t simply mean your company earned nothing. If your company doesn’t meet the legal definition, your filing requirements are completely different – and potentially a lot more expensive.
A company is dormant when it has had no significant accounting transactions during its accounting period. No payments received, no payments made to suppliers, no invoices raised, nothing of financial consequence. The Companies House filing fee itself doesn’t count. Neither does share capital paid at incorporation. But almost anything else does.
Dormancy means no Corporation Tax liability for the period, combined with a formal notification submitted directly to HMRC. HMRC will not assume you’ve stopped trading. They’ll keep issuing returns, expecting responses, and generating penalties until you tell them directly.
Paying a web designer or freelancer from the company account
Receiving a refund – even a small one – into the company bank account
Paying for a LinkedIn, Canva, or any SaaS subscription through the business
A bank charge or maintenance fee (in most cases)
Paying for domain renewal or website hosting
Receiving a single invoice payment, even from a prior period
Moving money between a personal and company account as a director’s loan
Paying for a Google Ads or Meta campaign
Making a payment toward a business insurance policy
Any payment to or from a related company
Critical: VAT & PAYE
If you were ever registered for VAT or had a PAYE scheme, you must deregister these separately. HMRC will not assume you’ve stopped – they’ll keep expecting nil returns and issuing penalties until you formally close them.
You can either file nil VAT returns each period to stay registered while you’re inactive – that keeps the number live for when you restart trading. Or formally apply to HMRC to deregister for VAT entirely, which makes more sense if trading isn’t on the horizon anytime soon. What you can’t do is nothing. HMRC will issue late filing surcharges for missed nil returns just as readily as they would for missed trading returns.
We’ll assess your status for free and tell you exactly what needs to be filed.
Companies House Late Filing Penalties – Annual Accounts
Escalating penalty structure. Miss two consecutive years and every figure doubles.
File now and the matter closes. This is the cheapest outcome.
Still recoverable, but the window is closing fast.
The fine alone now costs more than a full year of professional compliance management.
Maximum annual accounts penalty. Miss two years in a row – every figure doubles.
Strike-off is Companies House removing your company from the register entirely. It’s not a slap on the wrist. It’s a permanent legal event with real downstream consequences:
If HMRC issued a Notice to Deliver a Corporation Tax return and it was ignored – even with zero tax owed – automatic penalties apply:
If you’re not sure whether you’ve received a notice, check your registered office address – or ask us to pull your HMRC record directly.
A founder assumes their company is “dead” – not filed, not active, not worth worrying about. But it’s not dead. It’s accumulating daily penalties in the background. When that same founder later tries to register a new UK company, applies for a UK Innovator Founder visa, or attempts to open a UK business bank account, the prior entity’s penalty record surfaces. Non-compliance on one entity can follow your personal details to the next.
If a UK company is struck off for non-compliance, Stripe’s automated verification systems may flag the director’s details – including passport number. That can make it harder to open a Stripe account under a new UK entity later. The company is gone, but the director’s compliance history is not.
Every filing completed within 5 working days. Every deadline tracked. Zero strike-offs for XPK clients.
We handle your entire annual dormancy compliance cycle – from Companies House accounts to HMRC notifications – so you never miss a deadline, regardless of where you are.
What Is Included
Everything needed for complete annual dormancy compliance – both bodies, every filing.
For each filing we complete, you receive documented proof – actual confirmation documents from Companies House and HMRC showing your filing was received and accepted. Not a “we sent it” message.
Filing confirmation delivered within 24 hours of submission. Every document filed through the official UK government portals, with confirmation records provided directly to you. Some founders use these as part of a Certificate of Good Standing request for banking, visa, or partnership applications.
Exact quote within 24 hours. No obligation. No UK presence required.
No trips to the UK. No in-person meetings. No navigating the UK Government Gateway portal yourself.
That last point matters more than most guides admit.
Fill in our secure online onboarding form. Takes about 5 minutes. You provide your company number, incorporation date, and details about any previous VAT or PAYE registrations.
We check your full filing history with both bodies, identify every outstanding or upcoming obligation, and confirm exactly what needs to be filed and when.
We handle preparation and submission of all required filings through the official UK government portals. You’re not involved in this step at all. Most dormant filings are completed within 3 to 5 working days of receiving your information.
Within 24 hours of each filing being accepted, you receive confirmation documents and a clear summary of your next year’s deadlines. You’ll know exactly what’s coming and when.
Pakistani IP addresses frequently trigger security locks on the UK Government Gateway. Recovery requires a physical letter sent to your UK registered office – which can take weeks. We file through registered agent access. No lockouts, no delays.
Share your details and we’ll take it from there. Average response time: under 4 hours.
Pricing starts from £[X]. Get an exact quote in under 24 hours.
Essential annual filings for straightforward dormant companies
Exact quote within 24 hours – no obligation
What’s included
Complete coverage for companies that were previously active
Exact quote within 24 hours – no obligation
Everything in Dormant Accounts, plus:
Fully hands-off compliance – we monitor and manage everything year-round
Exact quote within 24 hours – no obligation
Everything in Full Compliance, plus:
Every service tier costs less than missing just one deadline
Tell us about your company and we’ll suggest the right package. Exact quote in under 24 hours.
That’s a reasonable thought. Here’s what it actually involves.
3-6 hours minimum – assuming no login issues or missed obligations
Share your details – done in 3 to 5 working days
Every key consideration – side by side
| What You’re Comparing | Doing It Yourself | With XPK |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding CH vs. HMRC dual obligation | Requires research – most guides only cover one | Handled – both covered as standard |
| Risk of missing 21-month first accounts deadline | High – commonly missed, especially the CS01 12-month clock | Zero – both deadlines tracked from incorporation |
| VAT / PAYE deregistration (if applicable) | Separate process, easy to overlook | Included in Full Compliance package |
| UK Government Gateway access from Pakistan | International IP addresses frequently get locked out – recovery can take weeks | No issue – filed through registered agent access |
| Knowing when a transaction breaks dormancy | Requires specific legal / accounting knowledge | Assessed during onboarding |
| Time to complete | 3 to 6 hours of research minimum, assuming no login issues | Share your details – done in 3 to 5 working days |
| What happens if you get it wrong | £150 to £1,500 per missed filing, potential strike-off | Fixed service fee – no surprises |
Most non-residents underestimate how much is involved and miss at least one filing. One missed deadline costs more than the entire service fee. The cost comparison isn’t even close once you factor in the research time, the lockout risk, and the escalating penalty structure.
Fixed fee. 5 working days. Zero lockouts. Zero missed deadlines.
200+ dormant companies filed. Zero strike-offs for XPK clients. Average 4.9 stars.
We had been ignoring our UK company for nearly two years. XPK sorted the Companies House accounts and the HMRC notification in four days. We are now back in good standing and our Stripe account is fully active again.
I had no idea my VAT registration was still live even though I had not traded in 18 months. XPK caught it, handled the deregistration, and saved me from what would have been a significant penalty.
Managing a UK company from Dubai was stressful – different time zones, different portals, constant uncertainty about whether I had covered everything. XPK made it completely hands-off.
I did not even know there was a difference between Companies House and HMRC dormancy. XPK explained it clearly and handled both filings within a week.
Free initial review. Average response time: under 4 hours.
Yes. Zero income doesn’t mean zero filing obligations. Every active UK limited company – including dormant ones – must file annual accounts with Companies House and a Confirmation Statement (CS01) each year. Skip that, and you’re looking at escalating penalties starting at £150 and, eventually, compulsory strike-off.
They’re two completely separate definitions handled through two completely separate processes. Companies House treats dormancy as having no significant accounting transactions – you declare that status by filing AA02 dormant accounts. HMRC’s definition is about having no Corporation Tax liability, and getting that status requires a formal notification sent directly to them.
Yes. Routine statutory fees – including the annual Companies House filing fee and share capital paid at incorporation – don’t count as significant accounting transactions. Your dormant status stays intact. Paying that fee from a personal PKR account is also one of the few cross-border payments that won’t create a compliance issue, as it relates to statutory obligations.
You still have to respond and file that specific return, even if no tax is owed. Ignoring a statutory notice from HMRC triggers automatic penalties regardless of your trading status. If you’re not sure whether you’ve received such a notice, check your registered office address – or ask us to pull your HMRC record directly.
No. HMRC sends everything to your company’s registered office address in the UK, not to wherever you happen to live. If you don’t have a mail forwarding arrangement in place, penalty notices could be piling up without you knowing. It’s one of the most common blind spots for non-resident founders.
Completely, yes. Everything is handled remotely and digitally. No UK presence is required at any stage. A specialist non-resident compliance service like XPK takes care of all filings on your behalf through secure online onboarding and direct portal access.
For newly registered UK companies, the first set of accounts is due 21 months after incorporation – not 12 months like most people assume. But the Confirmation Statement (CS01) is still due every 12 months from your incorporation date, running on its own completely separate clock.
The company loses its legal existence entirely. Business bank accounts are frozen, Stripe and PayPal accounts tied to the entity lose their legal basis, and Amazon Seller Central accounts linked to the company are at serious risk of permanent deactivation. Getting the company restored means a formal court application – typically upward of £1,000 before professional fees even enter the picture. It’s always more expensive than the original filing would have been.
You’ve got two options. File nil VAT returns each period to stay registered while you’re inactive – that keeps the number live for when you restart trading. Or formally apply to HMRC to deregister for VAT entirely, which makes more sense if trading isn’t on the horizon anytime soon.
Whether your UK LTD is paused, dormant, or between trading cycles – if you’re based outside the UK, this service was built for you.
UK LTDs paused between product cycles, during sourcing periods, or while reconfiguring supply chains. Keeping the entity in good standing protects Seller Central access and GBP payment collection. If you set up a UK LTD specifically to access Stripe, PayPal, or EU distribution – this service was built for exactly your situation.
Global billing through a UK entity that’s currently inactive while you work on other projects, take a planned break, or are between contracts.
UK holding companies kept dormant during seed stage while the core business is still being built. Clean filing history from day one makes future fundraising, banking expansion, or visa applications a lot smoother.
UK entities dormant while the founding team relocates, restructures, or moves between projects. The entity stays intact, the access stays live, and the work resumes when you’re ready.
UK trading companies paused between seasons or during longer sourcing and manufacturing cycles. A clean dormant record costs far less than restoring a struck-off entity mid-season.
This service was built for exactly your situation. You understand the value of the UK entity. You understand what’s at stake if it lapses. You just need someone who understands the compliance landscape for non-residents to handle it properly.
Free initial review. Tell us about your company and we’ll tell you exactly what needs to be done.
We hear the same hesitations from founders every week. Here’s what we actually say in response.
“It is probably cheaper to just do it myself.”
The service fee is typically less than the Tier 1 late filing penalty, which starts at £150 for just one month late. But cost aside, doing it yourself means getting across the dual Companies House and HMRC obligation, the 21-month first accounts rule and the separate 12-month CS01 clock, whether your VAT or PAYE registrations are still creating active liabilities, and navigating the UK Government Gateway from a non-UK IP address that may get locked out mid-process. Most non-residents underestimate how much is involved and miss at least one filing.
“I am not sure I am actually non-compliant yet.”
That’s exactly the right time to engage. Proactive filing is always simpler and cheaper than remedial filing. If you have an active UK company with no current trading activity, your next deadline is already running – whether or not you’re aware of it.
“Can a service based outside the UK really handle UK regulatory filings?”
All Companies House and HMRC filings are submitted digitally through the official UK government portals. Our team is trained specifically in UK compliance for non-resident and internationally-managed companies. We file on behalf of clients in Pakistan, UAE, USA, and Canada – through the same official channels a UK-based accountant would use.
“I will sort it out later.”
The most expensive compliance decisions are the ones that get deferred. The penalty structure escalates from £150 at one month to £1,500 beyond six months. After that, strike-off proceedings begin – and a struck-off company doesn’t just create a one-time cost. It creates a compliance record attached to your personal details that surfaces every time you try to open a new entity, access business banking, or apply for a UK visa.
Every filing we submit is prepared to the standards required by Companies House and HMRC. If we make an error on a filing we prepared, we correct it at no additional cost to you.
Every filing we submit is prepared to the standards required by Companies House and HMRC. If we make an error on a filing we prepared, we correct it at no additional cost to you.
This guarantee covers filings we prepare. It doesn’t cover penalties arising from non-compliance that existed before you engaged us. But we’ll always tell you upfront if your company has prior exposure and exactly what it will take to resolve it – before any work begins. No surprises. No hidden costs discovered mid-filing.
Every filing backed by our compliance guarantee. No obligation until you approve the quote.
Your UK limited company is not just a piece of paper. It’s the legal infrastructure behind your Stripe account, your Amazon seller access, your GBP banking, and your credibility as an international business. Keeping it in good standing costs far less than losing it.
No UK presence required. Everything handled online.
Companies House accounts, HMRC notifications, VAT and PAYE deregistration where needed – so no deadline catches you off guard. No UK presence required. Everything handled online.
We handle every part of your annual dormancy compliance – Companies House accounts, HMRC notifications, VAT and PAYE deregistration where needed – so no deadline catches you off guard. No UK presence required. Everything handled online.
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