The UK compliance calendar for small limited companies

General information, not advice. This article is general information for UK small businesses. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Your exact dates depend on your company and can change, so check the official guidance listed at the end, or ask your accountant, before you rely on any date. Figures checked October 2026.

Most late-filing penalties are not caused by complicated rules. They are caused by simple deadlines that live on different clocks: some follow the tax year, some follow your company's year end, some follow the date you were set up, and some follow payday. The fix is a single calendar with every deadline that applies to you, and reminders far enough ahead to act.

The dates below are the usual rules for a small private limited company. Your own dates depend on your year end, your incorporation date, your VAT periods and your payday.

If you employ anyone, including yourself as a director on payroll:

• Send a Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC on or before each payday.
• Pay PAYE and National Insurance to HMRC by the 22nd of the following tax month if you pay electronically, or so that it arrives by the 19th if you pay by cheque.
• If you expect to pay less than £1,500 a month on average, you may be able to pay quarterly instead. Ask HMRC first.

• You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover over the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or if you expect it to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days alone. On the 12-month test you have 30 days from the end of the month you went over to register.
• Once registered, VAT returns are usually due one calendar month and 7 days after the end of each VAT period, and the payment is due by the same date.
• VAT records and returns must be kept and filed using software that works with Making Tax Digital.

• Confirmation statement. File at least once every 12 months, within 14 days of the end of your review period. It confirms the information Companies House holds about your company is up to date. A fee applies; check the current amount when you file.
• Identity verification. Since 18 November 2025, directors and people with significant control need to verify their identity with Companies House. Existing directors verify by the time of their company's next confirmation statement, and the statement cannot be filed until every director has done so. If you have not verified yet, do it now.
• Annual accounts. For a private company, usually due 9 months after the end of your financial year. Your first accounts have a different deadline, so check yours.

• Pay Corporation Tax, or tell HMRC you owe nothing, 9 months and 1 day after the end of your accounting period.
• File your Company Tax Return 12 months after the end of your accounting period.

Note that payment is due before the return. Many owners are caught out by this.

• Give each employee their P60 by 31 May.
• Report expenses and benefits (if you provide any) by 6 July.
• ICO data protection fee. Most organisations that handle personal information must pay a yearly fee to the Information Commissioner's Office unless they are exempt. Since February 2025 the fee is £52 for the smallest organisations (tier 1) and £78 for small and medium ones (tier 2), with a small discount for paying by Direct Debit. The ICO has a short self-assessment to check whether you need to pay and which tier you are in.
• Employers' liability insurance. Renew before it lapses. Most employers need cover of at least £5 million from an authorised insurer.

New employers must complete a declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator within 5 months of their duties start date. After that, every three years you must put certain staff who have left your pension scheme back into it and complete a re-declaration of compliance within 5 months of the third anniversary of your duties start date. You must re-declare even if nobody needs to be re-enrolled.

Sole traders do not deal with Companies House or Corporation Tax, but Self Assessment applies: the online return and any tax owed for the 2025 to 2026 tax year are due by 31 January 2027. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is also being phased in: from 6 April 2026 for qualifying income over £50,000, from 6 April 2027 over £30,000 and from 6 April 2028 over £20,000. Check GOV.UK to see if and when it applies to you.

1. Write down your company's year end, incorporation date, confirmation statement date, VAT periods, payday and pension duties start date.
2. Work out each deadline for the next 12 months using the rules above, then check them against your Companies House and HMRC accounts.
3. Put each one in a shared calendar with reminders 30, 7 and 1 days before.
4. Name one person responsible for each deadline, even if it is your accountant.
5. Keep proof of every filing and payment in one place. When a letter arrives, you will be glad you did.

The Compliance Vault in NAVIZIX gives you a starter list of common UK obligations, each linked to the official guidance. You check each due date against your own company, get reminders 30, 7 and 1 days before by default (you can change them), and keep receipts, certificates and filings in private storage next to each obligation. It reminds you; it does not file anything for you, so keep your accountant in the loop.

• GOV.UK: Pay employers' PAYE and Reporting to HMRC: running payroll
• GOV.UK: When to register for VAT and VAT Returns deadlines
• GOV.UK: Confirmation statement guidance and Verifying your identity for Companies House
• GOV.UK: Prepare and file annual accounts for a limited company
• GOV.UK: Payroll annual reporting
• ICO: Data protection fee
• The Pensions Regulator: Re-enrolment and re-declaration
• GOV.UK: Employers' liability insurance
• GOV.UK: Self Assessment deadlines and Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: if and when you need to use it