Companies House fees jump significantly

On 1st May 2024, Companies House fees jumped significantly. In some cases they went up fivefold.

You’ll probably be aware that Companies House offers a wide range of services. These include incorporating and registering limited companies, limited liability partnerships (LLPs), community interest companies (CICs) and overseas entities. Companies House fees also include those for changing a registered organisation’s name or voluntarily striking it off the register.

Why Companies House fees have gone up

Companies House is not a profit-making organisation. However, from 4th March 2024, it gained significant new powers under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. Companies House fees have therefore risen to help pay for these measures, which include:

• More stringent checks on company names
• Greater powers to query information
• New rules for registered office addresses (such as banning the use of PO boxes)
• A new, robust identity verification process
• Limited partnerships having to file more information via an authorised agent
• New requirements to provide extra shareholder information
• Restrictions on the use of corporate directors
• Stronger investigation and enforcement powers
• New powers to share information with law enforcement agencies and other government departments.

You can find out more about these changes on this page and by watching this helpful video.

How much Companies House fees have gone up by

Companies House fees have gone up by varying amounts. Unsurprisingly, fees for services completed via software or online are still cheaper than those completed on paper.

That said, some of the rises are significant. Beforehand, it cost £10 to file company incorporation documents using software or £12 if you did it online. To do either of these things now costs £50. Furthermore, filing company incorporation documents on paper used to cost £40. This has now gone up to £71.

In a similar vein, the fees for filing annual confirmation statements have risen. It used to cost £13 to do this via software or online. You now need to pay £34. The £40 fee for doing this by post has also jumped up to £62.

If you want to consult a list of all the new Companies House fees, you can find them here.

Help with registering companies and LLPs

Many people choose to register their own companies and LLPs. However, before you take the decision to incorporate, we strongly recommend you get expert help.

Our accountants can advise you whether it’s likely to be more tax efficient to work as a sole trader, or to set up a limited company or LLP. We can also help protect your interests if you’re going into business with other people. For example, we can draft a shareholder agreement to protect against unforeseen events such as a business partner becoming incapacitated.

The other thing that’s worth bearing in mind is that incorporation is now more difficult to get right. With the new powers and obligations Companies House has, it has become more complex to comply with the rules of incorporation. If you use our company formation service we can help you make sure the process goes ahead glitch-free, giving you peace of mind to focus on what you do best – your business.