What is a confirmation statement for Companies House?
Answered 17 March 2026
What the law says
A confirmation statement is a statutory document that every company must deliver to the Companies House registrar under Part 24 of the Companies Act 2006 (s.853A). It is a formal statement confirming the accuracy of information held on the register.
Definition and content
A confirmation statement is a statement confirming:
- That the company has delivered (or is simultaneously delivering) all information required under any duty to notify a relevant event (s.853B);
- That the company is simultaneously delivering any information required under ss.853BA–853H; and
- In the case of a company's first confirmation statement, that it has delivered any information required under ss.167I, 279I or 790LG (pre-incorporation changes).
Timing
Every company must deliver the confirmation statement before the end of 14 days after the end of each review period. Each review period is 12 months, beginning with the day of incorporation (or the day after the previous confirmation date).
Where a company delivers a confirmation statement with a confirmation date earlier than the last day of the review period, the next review period begins the day after that earlier confirmation date.
What must accompany the confirmation statement
When making a confirmation statement, a company must also simultaneously deliver:
- A statement that its intended future activities are lawful (s.853BA)
- A statement of capital (if there has been any change since the last one) (s.853D)
- Shareholder information (for non-traded companies: names, shares held, transfers during the period) (s.853F)
- For companies exempt from the PSC (People with Significant Control) regime under Part 21A, a statement of that exemption (s.853H)
- Notices of any change in registered office or registered email address if those are not currently appropriate (ss.853CA, 853CB)
Penalties for failure
If a company fails to deliver a confirmation statement within the 14-day window, an offence is committed by both the company and every officer in default. On summary conviction in England and Wales, the penalty is a fine plus a daily default fine not exceeding the greater of £500 or one-tenth of level 4 on the standard scale for continued contravention.
HMRC guidance / practice
HMRC guidance notes that the confirmation statement replaced the old annual return and is one of the responsibilities of designated members of an LLP (alongside preparing accounts and notifying Companies House of changes).
In practice, confirmation statements are used by HMRC as evidence of a company's share ownership and control structure. For example, in tribunal proceedings, HMRC has relied on confirmation statements to establish who held shares and who was a Person with Significant Control at particular points in time.
Citation sources
PART 24 Annual confirmation of accuracy of information on register Failure to deliver confirmation statement 853L 1 If a company fails to deliver a confirmation statement before the end of the period of 14 days after the end of a review period an offence is committed by— a the company, and b every officer of the company who is in default. For this purpose a shadow director is treated as a director. 2 A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction— a in England
PART 24 Annual confirmation of accuracy of information on register Duty to confirm lawful purpose 853BA Where a company makes a confirmation statement it must at the same time deliver to the registrar a statement that the intended future activities of the company are lawful.
PART 24 Annual confirmation of accuracy of information on register Duty to deliver confirmation statements 853A 1 Every company must, before the end of the period of 14 days after the end of each review period, deliver to the registrar— a such information as is necessary to ensure that the company is able to make the statement referred to in paragraph (b), and b a statement (a “confirmation statement”) confirming— i that the company has delivered to the registrar, or is delivering to the registr
ly 50% of the dividends had been received by the Appellant. 25. On 4 April 2023, Companies House received a confirmation statement from the company that stated that 5 out of the 10 shares in the Company had been transferred from the Appellant to Mr Gabbitus on 1 December 2018. 26. It is the case for the Respondents that this contradicted the previous four confirmation statements sent to Companies House. A further confirmation statement was filed with Companies House on 17 April 2023 with no upda
ther documents, such as the VAT registration form [HB718] and the notification of the option to tax [HB723, 726]. Furthermore, it was not clear to us how or why a share transfer would be effected on the same day that the company was incorporated. (22) Given the way HMRC argued the case (leading to a narrowing of the issues requiring our determination), we were not required to resolve any of those queries concerning the deed. Furthermore, we were able to reach our decision (and our concerns about
mation date of a confirmation statement must be no later than the last day of the review period concerned. 5 For the purposes of this Part, each of the following is a review period— a the period of 12 months beginning with the day of the company's incorporation; b each period of 12 months beginning with the day after the end of the previous review period. 6 But where a company delivers a confirmation statement with a confirmation date which is earlier than the last day of the review period conce
PART 24 Annual confirmation of accuracy of information on register Duty to deliver information about exemption from Part 21A 853H 1 This section applies where a company ... to which Part 21A does not apply (information about people with significant control, see section 790B), makes a confirmation statement. 2 The company must deliver to the registrar a statement of the fact that it is a company to which Part 21A does not apply at the same time as it delivers the confirmation statement. 2A The st
The term designated member is used in the LLP legislation. It simply means a member with additional duties under the LLP legislation. The term has no significance for tax purposes. Some of the responsibilities of a designated member include: register the business for Self-Assessment with HMRC - you must also register separately as an individual register the partnership for VAT if you expect your business’s sales to be more than £90,000 a year prepare, sign and send annual accounts to Companies H