OCTOBER 2008

COMPANIES ACT 2006 - FILING OF ACCOUNTS AND LATE FILING PENALTIES

Filing dates for accounts will be reduced from 10 months to 9 months for private companies and fro 7 months to 6 months for PLC's. This will come into effect for accounting periods beginning on or after 6 April 2008.

Late filing penalties will also be increased to take account of inflation between 1992 and 2007.
A faster rate of increase in penalties will be introduced for companies who file more than one month late. There will also be a doubling of the penalty for any company which files late having also filed late in the previous year.

Late filing penalties from 1 February 2009 for private companies will be as follows: