Important dates for small businesses and their owners

Running your own business can often make you feel like there is not enough time in the day, meaning deadlines can come round much quicker than expected. In this blog we thought we would run through the accounting and taxation deadlines for your small business, and what the important dates to remember are. 

Important dates for Limited companies & Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP’s)

• Filing accounts with Companies House = within 9 months of your financial year end, or 21 months after incorporation.  That last part is often over-looked resulting in some businesses getting fines in their first year for the sake of a few days.
• Paying your corporation tax liability (not required by LLP’s) = within nine months of the end of the period covered by the tax return.  A corporation tax return can only cover a maximum of 12 months, so remember if you have an extended period (for example in your first period of trade) there will be two returns and so two deadlines.  Large companies will have to make quarterly instalments.
• Filing your corporation tax return (not required by LLP’s) = 12 months after the end of the period covered by the return.  In reality the full 12 months is rarely used as most will file within nine months of the end of the period as you would have had to have completed the tax return to know what the liability to pay is.  
• Filing your Confirmation Statement = these are due at least annually and so will be dated either 12 months since incorporation or 12 months since your last one.  You then have two weeks to file with Companies House. 

Important dates for individuals

• Filing your Self-Assessment tax return online = by 31 January following the end of the tax year (which runs to 5 April each year). 
• Filing your Self-Assessment tax return in paper form = by 31 October following the end of the tax year. 
• Registering for Self-Assessment = by 5 October following the end of the tax year in which triggered the requirement.  For example, if you become self-employed on 25 June 2023, this falls into the tax year to 5 April 2024 and so you have until 5 October 2024 to register with HMRC.  This can be done online. 
• Paying your personal tax liability = by 31 January following the end of the tax year. 
• Paying your first tax Payment on Account = by 31 January during the tax year concerned. 
• Paying your second tax Payment on Account = by 31 July following the end of the tax year concerned.
• Reporting sale of an investment property and paying any Capital Gains Tax = 60 days following completion.  

For more information on Payments on Account and how they work, check out our previous blog post on this topic here.

Important dates for partnerships (including LLP’s)

• Filing your partnership tax return online = by 31 January following the end of the tax year (except for partnerships with a Limited company partner). 
• Filing your partnership tax return in paper form = by 31 October following the end of the tax year (except for partnerships with a Limited company partner).  

For all

• Submitting VAT return and paying any liability = one calendar month and 7 days after the end of the period covered by the return.
• Payroll – Full Payment Submission (FPS) report to HMRC = on or before the employee’s pay day. 
• Paying the PAYE bill to HMRC = by the 22^nd of the next month.  If paying by cheque it needs to be with HMRC by the 19^th. 

At Veritons we take a proactive approach to compliance as you need to know the position of both you and your business as soon as possible, and have the piece of mind that your engagements have been completed long before any statutory deadlines.  We are a firm of accountants based in Medway with over 20 years experience in advising and assisting businesses like yours. If you would like to book a free introductory meeting with us please click on the button below.