Your limited company's first accounts and Company Tax Return
Overview
When you set up your limited company, you automatically get different reporting dates for the first:
- annual accounts you send to Companies House
- Company Tax Return you send to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
You may also have to send (바카라 사이트˜file바카라 사이트™) 2 tax returns to cover your first year in business.
Annual accounts
Your first accounts usually cover more than 12 months. This is because they:
- start on the day your company was set up (바카라 사이트˜incorporated바카라 사이트™)
- end on the 바카라 사이트˜accounting reference date바카라 사이트™ that Companies House sets for the end of your company바카라 사이트™s financial year - this is the last day of the month your company was set up
Example
If your company was set up on 11 May, its accounting reference date will be 31 May the following year. So your company바카라 사이트™s first accounts must cover 12 months and 3 weeks.
In following years, your accounts will normally cover your company바카라 사이트™s financial year from 1 June to 31 May.
Company Tax Return
The period covered by your tax return (your 바카라 사이트˜accounting period바카라 사이트™ for Corporation Tax) cannot be longer than 12 months. So you may have to file 2 tax returns to cover the period of your first accounts. If you do, you바카라 사이트™ll also have 2 payment deadlines.
In following years you then normally only file one tax return - and it will usually cover the same financial year as your accounts.
What you must do
The dates of your first tax return - and whether you file 2 or one - depend on whether your company: