With effect from the 1st May 2024, Companies House is increasing its fees for more-or-less every service it offers where a fee is payable. This is the first time in several years that their fees have been revised and going forward they’ll be based on what’s called a “cost-recovery basis” where the fee must cover the cost of Companies House providing the service without any profit being made.
This will affect every limited company in the UK
Whilst we all expect price increases from time to time, the reality is that the fee increases are significant compared to the current fees. Given every company has to at least file an annual Confirmation Statement (where the online filing fee will increase from £13 at present to £34 – a 160% increase) this is a charge that will impact every single one of the 5m+ live companies at Companies House.
What are the fee increases?
Fees for paper filings submitted by post remain higher than those for submitting the same documents electronically, encouraging companies to use online filing wherever possible. Given the extra revenue Companies House is going to generate (think an extra £21 annually for each confirmation Statement across 5m companies) it’s hoped the traditional two-week backlog to process paper forms will disappear – although this could be wishful thinking.
Below are some examples of the new fees from the 1st May 2024 against the current fees
| Service | Current Fee | New fee from 1/5/24 |
| Incorporation (i.e. forming a new company) | £10 (digital) £40 (paper) | £50 (digital) £71 (paper) |
| Incorporation (same-day service) | £30 | £78 |
| Confirmation Statement | £13 (digital) £40 (paper) | £34 (digital) £62 (paper) |
| Change of company name | £8 (digital) £10 (paper) | £20 (digital) £24 (paper) |
| Change of company name (same-day service) | £30 | £83 |
| Voluntary strike off | £8 (digital) £10 (paper) | £33 (digital) £44 (paper) |
| Reduction of share capital (same-day service) | £50 | £136 |
| Registration of a charge (e.g. debenture, mortgage etc) | £15 (digital) £23 (paper) | £15 (digital) £24 (paper) |
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