dormant company question

crisp

Hello, I have had my company since 1998 and I want to seize trading. the company has had minimal activity in the last 4 years and now as I have been offered a full time job, I think its the right time to declare the company dormant?

What is the qualification to have a company declared dormant? Is there a special time that you can do this i.e. around the account or can you do it at any time of the year?

Finally, I take it that the company will be struck off.

Regards

Little_Flossie

You can't declare the company dormant unless there is no activity during the financial year. Once this is the case you can write to the tax man (HMRC) and tell him the company is dormant for corporation tax purposes and also write to Companies House (https://www.companieshouse.gov.uk) to get the company struck off. Have a look at the website and it will tell you what form you need to fill in etc. You can do this at any point throughout the year.

matthewrees2000

The first question is whether you want to keep the name of your company or not.

If you do, then it is best you file dormant accounts with companies house each year. All that is required for a company to be dormant is for there not to be any trading through it throughout the year. There is a downloadable DCA (Dormant Company Accounts) Form on the Companies House website :

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/forms/formsOnline.shtml.

You will also need to preapre the Annual Return each year for the company, and pay £30 (£15 if you do it online) per annum to submit the Annual Return.

If you dont need to protect the company name, then it is best that you strike off the company using Form 652a on the above webaddress, and you'd have to pay a one off £10 fee to do this.

Another matter to remember is to inform the Inland Revenue that you have ceased trading, and thus there will be no tax to pay for the company. They should stop chasing you for payments etc. then.

I hope this has been usefull

Matthew

Pennywise

The answers already given assume that the company has no assets which is probably the case here. However, for completeness, If it has any property, equipment, bank balances, etc., then you can't just get the company struck off. When the company is struck off, any remaining assets pass to Crown ownership so you would lose them. You have to personally buy the property and equipment at current market value and then you have to pay the balance of funds (bank etc) out as salary or dividend (or directors loan repayment?). You may also consider claiming a concession from the Inland Revenue where any monies left can be paid out as capital instead so that you benefit from capital gains tax reliefs.