HMRC's free company filing service has closed: what a company needs now

acrenvo.com/guides/company-filing-after-hmrc-service-closed, last reviewed 12 October 2026

Meera is fictional, but plenty of directors will recognise her year. She runs a small design consultancy as a limited company, and every year she sent its accounts and its Company Tax Return in one go through the free online service that HMRC and Companies House ran together. This year she went to do the same and found it had gone. She wants to know what replaced it, whether she now needs to buy something, and which parts go where. This guide walks through what closed, what a company now files with each body, and how to use GOV.UK’s own lists to find software that can do the job. After that, she can look at company filing software and what it costs.

What closed, and when

The service Meera used was a joint one, and that is the part that has gone. When HMRC and Companies House announced the closure, they described the service like this: Companies have used this service to file their accounts and Company Tax Returns at the same time with Companies House and HMRC, but it will close in 12 months’ time.

GOV.UK now confirms the date in plain terms. The ‘File your accounts and Company Tax Return’ online service closed on 31 March 2026. The closure notice also asked companies to save copies of what they had filed through the service, because those filings would not stay available there. We recommend downloading and saving at least 3 years of accounts filings for your company. You will not be able to access any previous filings on this service after 1 April 2026.

What a company files now, and with whom

The closure did not change what a company has to file. It changed how the filing reaches each body, so it helps to take HMRC and Companies House separately.

The Company Tax Return goes to HMRC through software

From 1 April 2026 you should use commercial software to file annual accounts and Company Tax Returns with HMRC. Paper is still possible, but only in narrow cases. You can only file a paper Company Tax Return if you:

• have a reasonable excuse
• are filing in Welsh

If your software cannot reach HMRC close to a deadline, HMRC posts planned downtime and known problems with the Corporation Tax service on its page Corporation Tax: service availability and issues.

The accounts still go to Companies House

You need to continue to file annual accounts with Companies House. For now, Companies House accepts them by more than one route. From 1 April 2026, companies can file their annual accounts with Companies House using third party software, our web services or paper filing. However, you will need to use software to file your Company Tax Return with HMRC.

Choosing software for the tax return

HMRC publishes a list of commercial software that can send a Company Tax Return, and Companies House publishes its own list of software that can file accounts. Neither list shows prices, and neither recommends one product over another. Companies House says so directly: Companies House does not endorse or recommend particular products. Contact providers directly for support or guidance.

For Meera, the useful point is that a product on HMRC’s list may handle only part of the return. These commercial software suppliers can produce one or more elements of a Company Tax Return with HMRC. You should consider which elements you need and make sure the software you choose allows you to file:

• a CT600
• a Corporation Tax computation
• your company accounts

If she wants to keep sending everything in one go, as she did before, the list helps there too. Some of the commercial software listed allows you to file your return and annual accounts together. The guide to Company Tax Returns and iXBRL explains what each part of the return is and the format HMRC asks for, Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language.

• HMRC’s list of commercial software for Company Tax Returns
• Companies House’s tool for finding software to file accounts

Correcting an earlier return or accounts

Meera also wondered what happens if she spots a mistake in a return she sent through the old service. GOV.UK covers that case. If you want to make changes to a previous submitted return or re-file a rejected return, you can:

• use commercial software
• write or send a paper return to the Corporation Tax office
• use an agent

Accounts are handled separately, because they sit with Companies House. If you want to change or correct your accounts with Companies House, you need to use software or send paper accounts by post. The guide to correcting company accounts and amending a Company Tax Return goes through both routes, and the time limits that apply.

If the company is dormant

A company that is not doing business still has filing duties, though they can be lighter on the tax side. GOV.UK says that you may be able to apply for a Corporation Tax filing exemption if you are a charity, community amateur sports club, or flat management company, and your company or organisation is dormant. The accounts duty does not go away, though. You still need to file accounts with Companies House annually even if your company is dormant.

The guide to filing dormant company accounts explains what changes for a dormant company when Companies House takes accounts only through software.

Questions about filing after the HMRC service closed