Please help! Late filing Companies House accounts twice

[ProjectPimp]

Hi everyone, hope you’re all ok, I haven’t been around for a couple of years as I stopped using my company and went through some health (physical and mental) issues.

During this time I was late filing accounts (twice). My fault. Not looking for any sympathy, deserved the fines.

However the first fine I never got a letter direct from CH, only from court? Once I had that letter I paid the fine but now I’m terrified and catastrophising, I can’t eat or sleep. My mental health is already terrible which is how I ended up here in the first place.

I’ve read all sorts and want to know if anyone has been in a similar situation of their own making, am I going to end up with a CCJ or criminal record for being late twice, am I overthinking this and do I just need to pay all fines and close the company and it’ll all go away? The company doesn’t owe anything in tax or anything.

I’m planning to call for advice on Monday first thing but i cant get through the weekend without talking to someone about this as I’m an absolute state and too embarrassed and ashamed to tell anyone I know.

[GJABS]

You certainly are catastrophizing, and I suspect there is more going on in your life that is causing this than merely being late filing company accounts.

A quick google of "late filing company accounts multiple times" says:

You’ll automatically receive a penalty notice if your accounts are filed after the deadline.
The penalty is doubled if your accounts are late 2 years in a row.

https://www.gov.uk/annual-accounts/p...or-late-filing

My advice is go and see some friends for a coffee and try and relax - it is not at all worth worrying about!

[Fraidycat]

I have been a weeks late filing several times over the years but i'm guessing you are more than a few weeks late.

The fines for filing 6 months late are quite high, £1500 and £3000 in the second year if you are six months late two years in row.

How many months late are you? and when you say twice, do you mean 2 years in a row?

You are not going to get a criminal record. And you wont get a CCJ unless it goes to court again.

You can ask CH to pay by instalments.

There is also an appeals process, if you have good excuse you can get the fine cancelled. A doctors letter saying you weren't well might be good enough..

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ling-penalties.

[hobnob]

I'm sorry to hear that you're having a tough time. Have you now filed all the company accounts, or is anything still pending? (If you haven't finished yet, I think that's your top priority.)

Similar to the link that GJABS posted, I found this:
Late filing penalties - GOV.UK

That says:
"Not filing your accounts or confirmation statements is a criminal offence. Directors or LLP designated members could be personally fined for this in the criminal courts."

However, if you haven't been using your company, that means that it won't owe any tax. So, I don't think it would be in the public interest for the CPS to press charges against you for being late; I think that HMRC will be content with the fine. Based on that, you don't need to worry about getting a criminal record.

As for CCJs, I found this:
County court judgments for debt: Overview - GOV.UK
"You may get a county court judgment (CCJ) or high court judgment if someone takes court action against you (saying you owe them money) and you do not respond."
(My emphasis.)

So, as long as you haven't ignored any letters, and you've paid any fines that are due, no need to worry about getting a CCJ.

[ProjectPimp]

Thank you so much everyone. Yes, there’s a lot going on but that’s how I ended up in this position, burying my head in the sand!

really appreciate you bringing me back to reality. I’ll ring CH on Monday and talk to them so I understand exactly where I stand and what happens next.

Hopefully I can close the company soon and all of this will be a distant nightmare.

Thanks again for being nice to me given this is all my own fault! It’s helped.