What’s your excuse?

The goat one won't work...

Companies House have published a list of some of the more bizarre excuses submitted for the late filing of statutory accounts. 

The excuses include:

• 'I found my wife in the bath with my accountant' 
• 'pirates stole my accounts' 
• 'we delivered the accounts to the betting office next door to Companies House'
• 'a volcano erupted and prevented me from filing'
• 'slugs ate my accounts'
• 'it was Valentine’s Day'
• 'my company was more successful than I thought it would be, so I was too busy to file'
• 'goats ate my accounts'

As you might expect, Companies House issued late filing penalties in all these cases and, after much consideration, appeals against the penalties were rejected ..... 

So what would have worked?

The truth is that Companies House late filing penalties are very rarely cancelled so it makes sense to get your affairs in order long before you are even getting close to the filing date. The level of penalty charged, as shown below, depends on how late the accounts reach Companies House:

Length of period (measured from the date the accounts are due)

• Not more than 1 month:  £150
• More than 1 month but not more than 3 months: £375
• More than 3 months but not more than 6 months: £750
• More than 6 months: £1,500

These penalties are doubled if a company files its accounts late in 2 successive financial years.