The Annual Confirmation Statement, replacing the Annual Return became effective on 30 June 2016. What does that mean for your business?

Completing the Annual Return was a well established procedure for UK businesses. From 30 June 2016, the Annual Return has been replaced by an Annual Confirmation Statement. The form will include all details which Companies House holds on your business, including the registered number, directors and company secretary (where applicable) details. 

For businesses where there has been no change, the Annual Confirmation Statement will mean reviewing the data and confirming it is correct. If the data on the form is incorrect, the appropriate form updating the details should be completed at the same time as the Annual Confirmation Statement. The filing deadline for the Annual Confirmation is 14 days, compared to the previous 28 day deadline for the Annual Return. 

Persons with significant control

Private companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) will also provide details of persons with significant control (PSC) when they complete their first Annual Confirmation Statement. The Register of PSC should have been established on 6 April 2016. It records details of individuals with control of the business. Broadly speaking, this means those with more than 25% direct or indirect ownership or voting rights of a company or limited liability partnerships. 

The rules are more complex when the business is controlled by another business.

When to submit your annual confirmation

 The first annual confirmation statement will generally be confirmed on the previous annual return’s anniversary date. However, a company or LLP can make the annual confirmation at any time during a 12 month period. The only requirement is there shouldn’t be more than 12 months between annual confirmations. 

If you require any further information on the Annual Confirmation Statement or Register of Persons with Significant Control, please contact your usual Johnston Carmichael adviser.