Penalties

If you hold buy-to-let property through a limited company (an SPV), you face two separate sets of filing penalties every year: one from Companies House for late accounts, and one from HMRC for a late Company Tax Return. They are charged independently, so a single late year can trigger both. Even a dormant or non-trading property company must still file. This article sets out the current amounts and the deadlines that matter to landlords.

Key deadlines and figures at a glance:

• Accounts deadline: 9 months after your year-end (Companies House)
• Tax return deadline: 12 months after your year-end (HMRC)
• Smallest late penalty: £150 (accounts, up to 1 month late)
• Repeat offence: penalty doubles if accounts are late two years running

I. Companies House: Late Accounts

1. The penalty scale

Your SPV must file annual accounts within 9 months of its accounting reference date. Miss it and the penalty is applied automatically, with no warning and no discretion. A property company is treated the same as any other; being small, dormant, or holding a single flat makes no difference.

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

Nearly all buy-to-let SPVs are private limited companies, so these are the figures that apply. Public company penalties are far higher (£750 to £7,500) but rarely relevant to landlords.

2. The doubling trap

File late two financial years in a row and the penalty doubles. A landlord who is a month late two years running pays £150, then £300. Six months late twice becomes £1,500, then £3,000. For portfolio landlords running several SPVs, a systemic delay across companies compounds fast.

3. Not filing at all

Failing to file accounts or your confirmation statement is a criminal offence. Directors can be personally fined in the criminal courts, and this is separate from and on top of the late filing penalty. The registrar can also strike the company off the register, which for a property SPV risks the assets passing to the Crown (bona vacantia) until the company is restored.

II. HMRC: Late Company Tax Return

1. The penalty scale

Separate from Companies House, HMRC charges its own penalties for filing your Company Tax Return (CT600) late. Your SPV’s tax return is due 12 months after the end of the accounting period, though the tax itself is payable earlier, at 9 months and 1 day after the period ends.

• 1 day late: £200
• 3 months late: another £200
• 6 months late: HMRC estimates your Corporation Tax bill (a “tax determination”) and adds a penalty of 10% of the unpaid tax
• 12 months late: another 10% of any unpaid tax

Note: these fixed penalties increased on 1 April 2026 (previously £100 / £200). If you are reading older guidance, check the date.

2. Repeat offences

If your tax return is late three times in a row, the two fixed £200 penalties increase to £1,000 each.

3. Late payment vs late filing

There are no late-payment penalties for Corporation Tax itself. Instead, HMRC charges interest on tax paid late. The penalties above are for filing the return late, which is a separate matter from paying the tax.

III. What This Means for Landlords

• Two regimes, two deadlines. Late accounts and a late tax return are charged independently. Diarise both the 9-month (Companies House) and 12-month (HMRC) deadlines for every SPV you hold.
• Dormant does not mean exempt. A non-trading or dormant property company must still file accounts and a confirmation statement. “Nothing happened this year” is not a defence.
• Appeals are hard to win. Both Companies House and HMRC only accept a genuine reasonable excuse or exceptional circumstance. “It was the accountant’s fault”, “I didn’t know how to file”, or “these were my first accounts” are explicitly rejected.
• Portfolio landlords, take note. If you run multiple SPVs, one missed process can trigger penalties across every company at once, and the doubling rule makes a repeat year materially more expensive.