Companies House charges: What you need to know

If you run a business, then you know that Companies House fees are a fact of life. There are the general fees to register your business, and then there are the fees to file your confirmation statement - which you must do at least once a year to make sure information such as your registered address and details of directors, are up to date.

Of course, knowing and understanding what business fees you need to pay, and when, can be confusing on top of all the expenses you have to wrap your head around.

On top of this, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 has now become law, and with it come a range of new measures that you need to be aware of, alongside all the traditional Companies House rules.

This is a lot to take in, which is exactly why we've pulled together everything you need to know about Companies House fees and regulations into one concise guide. 

What are the different types of Companies House fees?

Whenever a new company is set up, it is a legal requirement for them to pay a set of specific fees to Companies House. This includes the Companies House registration cost – a one-time payment that is required to register your company, and Companies House filing fees – a yearly payment you must make to ensure your company details are up to date.

However, what these fees are will be determined by a variety of factors. For example, some of these fees are set directly by parliament, while others are determined on an administrative basis – such as whether or not you choose to register your business online or with a traditional paper form (the latter of which is more expensive).

Regardless, you can see a breakdown of the current costs below:

What are the Companies House registration costs?

As of the time of writing, the current Companies House registration costs are as follows:

• Company incorporation – £50 online or £71 via form
• Same-day incorporation – £78 (can only be done via the CH software)

What are the Companies House filing fees?

As of the time of writing, the current Companies House filing fees are as follows:

• Confirmation statement fee – £34 online or £62 via form

Alongside this, you will need to pay additional costs for any of the following:

• Change of name – £20 online or £30 via form
• Same-day change of name – £83 online (or via CH software)
• Re-registration – £71 (can only be done via physical form)
• Registration of a charge – £15 online or £24 via form
• Voluntary strike off - £33 online or £44 via form

Recent Companies House fee increases

As we mentioned earlier, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 has resulted in new laws and increased Companies House fees that businesses must abide by. Launching in October 2023, the fee changes came into force on 1 May 2024.

However, while these new laws are certainly welcome, Companies House will need to invest in new processes, systems, and skills to implement these changes, as its costs are paid for by the fees it charges.

Naturally, this means that fees are now more expensive than they have been in the past, which may come as a shock to long-standing business owners. Indeed, the new fees below (which equal those listed above), came into effect from 1 May 2024 and included:

• £50 for digital incorporation - up from £12
• £50 for incorporation using software – up from £10
• £78 for same-day incorporation using software – up from £30
• £34 to file a confirmation statement digitally or using software – up from £13
• £62 to file a confirmation statement on paper – up from £40
• £30 to change your business name on paper – up from £10
• £20 to change your business name digitally – up from £8

In the case of incorporating a company digitally, the new fee is more than four times the old fee of £12, while the cost of filing your confirmation statement digitally or using software is going up by more than two-and-a-half times!

Granted, these Companies House fee increases are substantial, but Companies House data shows that its fees are still lower than the global average. It’s also important to note that they haven’t previously changed their fees since 2016 and that they do not make a profit from them – these increases are purely a means of meeting operational costs.

What are the new legal Companies House changes?

Alongside increasing fees to meet cost demands, Companies House has also been granted new powers so that they can play a greater role in tackling financial crime and payment fraud.

This includes introducing measures to stop limited partnerships from being abused, giving law enforcement agencies extra powers to seize crypto-assets and gather intelligence, and making it easier for businesses to share information to tackle economic crime.

Essentially, the changes to Companies House law implemented by the Act are designed to make the information stored about businesses on its registers more accurate and trustworthy, leading to greater transparency overall.

For example, they now include the requirement for company directors and others involved in a business to verify their identity, which will be introduced later in 2024. 

There will also be greater protection for personal information held on the Companies House register to make it harder to use for fraud. This will come into force over the next two years.

Additionally, in the future, you’ll only be able to file your annual accounts with Companies House using accounting software, not online or on paper. This aims to make filing more efficient and secure, improving the quality of the information on the register and allowing more information to be made available to the public.

Finally, the Act gives Companies House greater investigation and enforcement powers and makes it easier for the agency to share information with partners, such as law enforcement agencies.

What do you need to know about these legal changes?

Given the sheer volume of legal changes coming into effect over the next few years, it’s essential that you’re clued up on everything going on. Below is a breakdown of what you need to know going forward:

1. Maintain an 'appropriate address'

As a business, you'll need to have an ‘appropriate address’ as your registered office where a document could be delivered and reach someone acting for the company and be recorded as being delivered.

This means you can’t use a PO Box. If you were using one previously, you should have changed this by 4 March, though you can still use a third-party agent’s address if it meets the conditions.

If you don’t have an appropriate address as your registered office, you could be struck off the register. And if Companies House finds out that you’re using an address that breaks the rules, it will change it to a default Companies House address and give you 28 days to supply a new one. If you don’t, it will begin the process of striking you off.

2. Confirm you're forming your company for lawful purposes

As part of the new process, you will be required to confirm you’re forming your company for lawful purposes and state that the business activities you plan to carry out in the future are lawful on your confirmation statement.

These new rules make it clear to all businesses that they have a duty to operate lawfully. Companies House can take action if it finds that you’re not, meaning if you’re an existing company, you’ll need to make a lawful purpose statement on your next confirmation statement and should have done so on any confirmation statement you’ve filed from 5 March onwards.

3. Provide a registered email address

Another addition to the new regulations state that you must provide a registered email address. New companies will need to provide one when they register with Companies House, and if you’re an existing company, you’ll need to provide an email address on your next confirmation statement.

Companies House will then use the address provided to communicate with you about your business, so you’ll need to make sure you have an appropriate email address registered at all times, otherwise you’ll be committing an offence. You can then be charged if necessary and you won’t be shown on the public register.

4. Prepare for additional scrutiny 

Finally, as part of the new laws coming into force, companies are expected to be prepared to deal with more queries from the registrar about potentially inconsistent or incorrect information.

On top of this, they’re expected to be more careful about using their company name in any way that could give a false impression of what they do to members of the public, while also ensuring they respond to any formal requests for information. 

Failure to adhere to these or any of the above rules could result in financial penalties or prosecution.

Build greater consumer trust with Which?

You should now have a much better idea of the fees associated with signing up with Companies House, and what additional legal responsibilities you’re expected to adhere to going forward.

Registering with Companies House is a great way to show customers that you’re serious about transparency and good customer service, as is signing up as a Which? Trusted Trader.