Important Companies House changes for small companies

Melanie Richardson

06/02/2025

Companies House introduced the first set of changes under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency (ECCT) Act on 4 March 2024 and are now introducing more changes over the coming months that could affect you. Find out what you need to do and by when.  

What are the new changes and when will they come into force?

Below is a summary of the changes coming into force over the next two years. Click on each heading to follow the link for more information.

New financial penalties

Companies House introduced new financial penalties in October 2024. You may receive a financial penalty if you do not comply with your legal obligations for example, not filing your confirmation statement on time. Companies House will introduce more financial penalties for non compliance as and when new measures come into force.

Improving the quality of data on registers

From 4 March 2024, Companies House will have greater powers to query information and make stronger checks on company names. There are also new rules for registered office addresses and new lawful purpose statements.

Confirmation statement changes

The changes also introduced the requirement to provide a registered email address and to confirm that the intended future activities of the company will be lawful.

Changes to Companies House fees

From 1 May 2024 Companies House will be charging increased fees for the filing of documents.

Authorised Corporate Service Providers

From 25 February 2025, third party providers planning on carrying out identity verification checks on behalf of clients can register as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP).

Identity verification

There will be a phased introduction of identity verification – anyone setting up, running, owning or controlling a company in the UK will need to verify their identity will soon need to verify their identity.

You can verify using GOV.UK One Login (see end of article for information on GOV.UK One Login), or through an (ACSP). To get ready for identity verification, it’s important to make sure Companies House holds the correct officer and PSC details for your company.

Identity verification will eventually become compulsory. Once it is, if an individual does not comply with identity verification requirements on time, they will be committing an offence.

Protecting your information

In 2025, measures will be introduced to allow individuals to apply to suppress personal information from historical documents.

Changes to limited partnerships

In 2026, limited partnerships will need to file their information through Authorised Corporate Service Providers and they will have increased reporting requirements.

Improving transparency of company ownership

There will also be additional requirements to provide shareholder information, and restrictions on the use of corporate directors.

Changes to accounts

Going forward there are plans to transition towards filing accounts by software only and changes to small company accounts filing options.

For more information on timelines please follow the link https://changestoukcompanylaw.campaign.gov.uk/changes-at-a-glance/?utm_source=notify

Companies House has joined GOV.UK One Login 

From September 2024, Companies House has started to move online services to GOV.UK One Login which is the new way to access government digital services.

GOV.UK One Login aims to allows users to access a range of government services using just one account. It will also offer increased security through two factor authentication. Services will move to GOV.UK One Login in phases, starting with the find and update company information service.

From 12 February 2025 all users will have the option to use GOV.UK One Login to sign in to this service, with the aim to require every user signing in to the find and update company information service to use GOV.UK One Login.

If you have any questions regarding these changes and how they may affect your business, please get in touch with your Swindells partner who will be able to advise you.

What are the changes to UK company size thresholds?

The UK government has increased the thresholds for small and medium size companies from April 2025. These changes will reduce the amount of reporting required in sets of accounts as well as increasing the level at which companies need an audit of their financial statements.

The increase in Employer’s National Insurance in April 2025

A key measure from the recent autumn budget was the announcement that employer’s national insurance (NI) will increase from 13.8% to 15% from 6 April 2025.

In addition to the increase in rate, the threshold at which employers start paying NI on their employees’ salaries will fall from £9,100 to £5,000.

Tax for online sellers

HMRC has been publicising the tax treatment of income for online sellers on websites such as eBay and Vinted as the platforms start sharing their sales data with HMRC from January 2025. The announcement comes as online platforms start sharing sales data with HMRC from January 2025, a new process that when announced last year, generated claims that people would have to pay tax when they sold their unwanted items online.