The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act became law in October 2023. Since then, we’ve been getting ready to introduce the measures brought in by the act.
We're aiming to introduce the first set of changes on 4 March 2024. The introduction of these changes needs secondary legislation so this date is still dependent on parliamentary timetables. It will not be earlier than 4 March 2024. These changes include:
- greater powers to query information and request supporting evidence
- stronger checks on company names
- new rules for registered office addresses
- a requirement for all companies to supply a registered email address
- a requirement for all companies to confirm they’re forming the company for a lawful purpose when they incorporate, and to confirm its intended future activities will be lawful on their confirmation statement
- the ability to annotate the register when information appears confusing or misleading
- taking steps to clean up the register, using data matching to identify and remove inaccurate information
- sharing data with other government departments and law enforcement agencies
What these early changes mean for you
We know companies, intermediaries and other stakeholders want to make sure they’re ready for the changes so that they can take action at the right time. Anyone thinking about incorporating a company should also be keeping a keen eye on developments.
We’ve summarised 3 of the changes in this blog post to help you to prepare:
- new rules for registered office addresses
- requirement for all companies to supply a registered email address
- new lawful purpose statements
For more information on the other changes brought in by the act, visit our new website.
New rules for registered office addresses
From 4 March 2024, there’ll be new rules for registered office addresses which mean companies must have an ‘appropriate address’ as their registered office at all times. An appropriate address is one where:
- any documents sent to the registered office should be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company
- any documents sent to that address can be recorded by an acknowledgement of delivery
These changes mean you will not be able to use a PO Box as your registered office address from 4 March 2024. You can still use a third-party agent’s address if they meet the conditions for an appropriate address.
If you’re currently using a PO Box as your registered office address, you’ll need to change it by 4 March 2024. You can change your company’s registered office address online, using your company’s authentication code.
Companies that do not have an appropriate registered office address could be struck off the register. When we identify an inappropriate registered office address, we’ll change it to a default address held at Companies House. The company must then provide an appropriate address, with evidence of a link to that address, within 28 days. If we do not receive this evidence, we’ll start the process to strike the company off the register.
Registered email address
From 4 March 2024, there’ll be a new requirement for all companies to give a registered email address to Companies House. This email address will not be published on the public register.
From 4 March 2024, new companies will need to give a registered email address when they incorporate. Existing companies will need to give a registered email address when they file their next confirmation statement with a statement date from 5 March 2024. Our online services will prompt you to supply a registered email address when you file your next eligible confirmation statement.
We’ll use this email address to communicate with you about your company, so it's important that you choose an appropriate email address. You can register the same email address for more than one company.
You’ll be able to change your registered email address through our new ‘update a registered email address’ service. You’ll need to be signed in and authenticated to do this.
Companies will have a duty to maintain an appropriate registered email address, in the same way as their registered office address. Any company that does not do this will be committing an offence.
Statement of lawful purpose
When you incorporate a company from 4 March 2024, the subscribers (shareholders) will need to confirm they’re forming the company for a lawful purpose.
You’ll also need to confirm the company’s intended future activities are lawful on the confirmation statement.
The intention of these new statements is to make it clear that all companies on the register, new and existing, have a duty to operate in a lawful way. We may take action against your company if we receive information that confirms you’re not operating lawfully.
We will not accept your documents if these statements have not been confirmed.
Existing companies will need to make a lawful purpose statement when they file their next confirmation statement with a statement date from 5 March 2024. Our online services will prompt you to do this when you file your next eligible confirmation statement.
These measures will all contribute towards meeting the new registrars’ objectives, and we’ll make all our decisions based on these objectives.
We’ll share more information in the coming weeks. Keep up to date on all the latest updates on our new website, and by signing up for our email newsletters.
Thank you for your interest in this blog post. We are not able to provide answers to complex queries or comment on individual cases on our blog. See the comments section below for responses that have already been provided by Companies House.
100 comments
Comment by David posted on
I'm all for these changes and believe they are long overdue.
Not sure if it's possible to make suggestions for future changes but it would be handy for those of us who have a different trading address to our registered office address or for those of us who have a company registered in Scotland but with a trading address in England or vice versa to be able to have our trading address alongside our registered office address.
I'm the director of a company started life in Scotland but the trading address moved to England many years ago and the registered office address can't be changed to an English address, it would be handy to be able to show the trading address on the company profile page alongside the registered office address.
Comment by Robert Chisholm Johnston posted on
I face the same dilemma in having a registered LLP in Scotland which I cannot change to a registration in England.As the United Kingdom remains intact a citizen/business should reflect the UNITED tag and not discriminate wherever the company (LLP or LTD) is in the United Kingdom
Comment by Peter Hollis posted on
I also have this issue with a client that moved from Scotland to England for operational reasons. It seems illogical that the company cannot move its registered office to England
Comment by J.M. posted on
The changes are welcome but (by far) the most important issue (the lack of privacy) remains though. When I signed up and provided my details to a ‘public register’, I assumed that it will have at least a drop of common sense with it and stay up to date with concerns. Instead, you can now find information about me all over various search engines, all kinds of scammy reseller sites, and what not. Even Chat GPT knows about it of course.
My Companies House profile appears as the number 1 result when my name is Googled. It is giving me a huge amount of stress, I have seriously considered (and still am) changing my name. And I have 0 appointments since 2014! Can there not be a basic requirement for people that need my information to at least register, or even provide an e-mail address? It is a requirement to write this comment! How does it make any sense?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Thank you for your comment. In return for the benefits of limited liability, a company must be open and transparent. Anyone who becomes a director of a company must be prepared for some of their details to be publicly accessible. Companies House has a statutory duty to collect that information and make it available.
The public register is open to anyone who wishes to search and obtain information from it. Information provided by any director to Companies House is intended for publication, subject to certain legislative conditions. Searchers of the public record should be able to do this as easily and as quickly as possible via the internet.
Most internet users rely on search engines to index data to enable them to find what they're looking for. As such we provide unrestricted access to the data we obtain. However, unlike Companies House, third parties do not have a legal obligation to publicly display personal data. Any individual has a right to request that the relevant third party removes their personal data.
Comment by GM posted on
Related query....sorry to hijack but I can't see where else to raise a query which has been puzzling me for years.
With any search, particularly on Companies House, I always get scores often hundreds of entries. If I add words to narrow it down, I just get more.
Where can I find 'how to search' guidance. e.g.....
-- if I want to seach for records containing both Fred AND Bloggs,
-- or search for Bloggs AND Manchester,
-- or Bloggs but NOT Manchester,
-- or search for specific character string - in other search engines can use inverted commas e.g. "Fred X Bloggs" but it doesn't work here.
-- Is there a way to search only within previous search results?
I think there must be an instruction book somewhere.....but where....?
Thanks in hope (:-)
Comment by Oskar Krol posted on
Well.... "public" is just public. Do you expect to hide your public data?
In my opinion the problem lies in how "for profit" companies has right to use the public data.
There is no way Companies House make your "public" data available only to some parties...
Comment by J.M. posted on
There are multiple ways of how this can be achieved. The most rational way would be to add a CAPTCHA for director personal pages (but not company ones). So, if someone looks for a company, they'd still find it on Google, but once they click on the 'people' tab (or access people's personal pages in any other way), they'd need to verify they're not a scraper. In addition, no-index tags could be added, these are not followed by all search engines but most of them do follow them. This alone would not make the register any less public, but would greatly reduce privacy concerns (and, I imagine, support calls to CH). If needed, this could only be done for directors with 0 appointments as these are very unlikely to be of interest to anyone apart from random stalkers. There are plenty of other technical ways, also legal ways to protect people's privacy without even being very innovative. Right now, this is a huge concern to many people and for no reason at all and for the benefit of absolutely no one apart from dodgy sites and stalkers.
Comment by Martin Miller posted on
Will an agent such as a TCSP be able to use their address on behalf of their client? Will recognised software be compliant cf web-filing, eg Diligent Entities?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Martin, thanks for your comment. Yes an agent can provide a registered email address on behalf of a company. There'll be a new ‘update a registered email address’ digital service, where you’ll be able to update or change the email address if necessary. Please can you clarify your question about compliant software?
Comment by Martin Miller posted on
Thanks, that's helpful. I use Diligent software. They are in the process of updating their forms in conjunction with Companies House. Will there be a new form to update email addresses other than the CS01? If there is, I presume it will be available via webfiling as well as through approved software filing.
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Martin. Yes there will be a specific form to update your registered email address. It will be available through Companies House web service, and specifications made available for third-party commercial software to develop their systems to file them too.
Comment by Martin Miller posted on
Thanks Luke.
Comment by Steve Abbott posted on
Re Lawful statement. Are you really expecting many new companies to state that that they will not act in a lawful way. Exactly. It's a wasteful box ticking. Those acting unlawfully will simply lie and bypass this check. Better to use resources to audit/investigate proactively surely ?
Comment by Lynne R posted on
I think the point is that if they tick the box and then do act unlawfully, an extra offence is committed that can be used alongside whatever unlawful thing they did. So an extra stick for Companies House to hit them with, so to speak. Im all for it. More punishment the better for fraudsters
Comment by John Payne posted on
Sound very reasonable to me
Comment by CHRIS CHESNEY posted on
ABOUT TIME
Comment by Arthur Vickers posted on
You're living in cloud cuckoo land if you think a lawful purpose statement will make a difference to law breakers.
Comment by Lynne R posted on
I think the point is that if they tick the box and then do act unlawfully, an extra offence is committed that can be used alongside whatever unlawful thing they did. So an extra stick for Companies House to hit them with, so to speak. Im all for it. Doesnt sound cuckoo to me
Comment by Richard Banyard posted on
This advice is helpful, but it would be useful also to learn of likely timescales for the threatened new format of annual financial account submission to companies house (which will be very complicated for small companies which don't currently use accountants, and will need a lengthy period for which to prepare).
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Richard, thanks for your comment. The move to filing accounts by software only will be phased in over the next 2 to 3 years. We’ll share the timetable for the roll-out of software-only filing soon.
Comment by E G Banchero posted on
A great step forward to stop companies using P.O. boxes as their registered address, as to whether the address of a solicitor will comply with the requirement that it comes to the " attention of a person acting on behalf of the company! is a mute point if the solicitor is not an officer of the company and merely providing a service.
Comment by IAN MONK posted on
Can you use an Agents email address as the Companys e-mail address ?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Ian, thanks for your comment. A company can use an agent’s email address as long as it’s appropriate. An appropriate email address is one at which, in the ordinary course of events, emails sent to it by the registrar would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company.
Comment by ALBERT ZUMBE posted on
To many companies have a postbox address. The true owners
can never be located. Some post box address have 20 or even 30
companies using that address.
Companys House only register the information given to them and it
seems to me they never investigate or check if the information is
correct. Often we see information that is clearly incorrect, so nobody is checking
It seems pointless even to complain. Under the circumstances its not
really for for purpose. How may accountants or people filling in bogus incorrect information were prosecuted ? Probably next to zero
Comment by MICHAEL posted on
GIBRALTER WHAT WILL HAPPEN
Comment by Carole Richmond posted on
What happens if you are non trading?
What will the wording be (I will not be able to attend the seminars as I am about to start lengthy cancer treatment)
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Carole, thank you for your comment.
In addition to the seminars, we'll also provide more information on our blog, news website and via our regular newsletter.
So we can answer your question, could you please provide a bit more context to the wording you're looking for?
Comment by Carole Richmond posted on
On the confirmation statement
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Even if your company is not trading, you'll still need to confirm the company’s intended future activities are lawful on the confirmation statement.
Comment by Robert Jones posted on
What happens about people in a one person company who goes on holiday for a month? Or have short term contracts that may involve staying away during the week?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Robert, thanks for your comment.
As a director of a limited company, you must:
Follow the company’s rules, shown in its articles of association
Keep company records and report changes
File your accounts and your Company Tax Return
Tell other shareholders if you might personally benefit from a transaction the company makes
Pay Corporation Tax
Read guidance for more information on the responsibilities of running a limited company: https://www.gov.uk/running-a-limited-company
For information on the changes being brought in by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, visit our website: https://changestoukcompanylaw.campaign.gov.uk/
Comment by Robert Jones posted on
What happens about people in a one person company who goes on holiday for a month? Or have short term contracts that may involve staying away during the week? How are they to be expected to be at home all day everyday to accept correspondence?
Comment by Neil Archer posted on
That doesn't answer Roberts question. Please can you try to address it and explain a solution for him?
Comment by Karl Hunter posted on
So what happens to Dormant companies ?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Karl, thank you for your comment. So we can answer your question, could you please provide a bit more context?
Comment by Karl Hunter posted on
Hi Luke
I was thinking that Dormant companies are used to "reserve" a name that may be used in the future, and the company has no trading associated with it.
Everything new that is coming (registered office address, proof of directors identity etc) appears to be for trading companies but do Dormant companies still have to bide by the new rules coming in ?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Karl. Yes, the measures will apply to all limited companies.
Comment by K BURROWS posted on
HOORAY THE SHERRIFFS ARE IN TOWN AND WE CAN START TO RELAX MORE
Comment by William Holliday posted on
As someone who has has his personal address used as the registered office for multiple bogus companies and consequently been bombarded with endless correspondence from Companies House, HMRC, The Pension Regulator, Loan Companies and Debt Collectors this cannot come soon enough.
It would be nice if, in addition, someone had the wit to check, when company correspondence is returned as "not known at this address" whether the same address was also used by multiple companies.
Comment by Keith Mahony posted on
All very logical and straight forward and a good way of helping to ensure a company is ‘bona fide’.
Comment by Karl Hunter posted on
What about Dormant companies Keith ?
Comment by Rob posted on
too late for the ££££billions lost to scammers
Comment by Rod posted on
Hi, our company has its registered office with a local solicitor who does not charge us for the privilege. If We ask the solicitor if we can use their email for the new company email address this may prompt charging. The alternative is to use a director’s email . However the 6 houses in our little development in which the directors live have a condition that they cannot be used for a business so does using a personal email for this purpose break the no business condition.
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Rod, thanks for your comment. The company must provide an appropriate registered email address, where emails sent to it would be expected to come to the attention of the person acting on behalf of the company. We’re unable to comment on individual company matters. If you have a query about a specific company, please email our contact centre: enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk.
Comment by Erdem Aykin posted on
Sound good. Every think will be in Order..
Comment by David Parker posted on
In theory this is fine, however practically your systems don't work properly, in the gateway I had problems receiving email from yourselves and reported this two months back without response.
The gateway is still very flakey if you impose a duty on businesses to provide such detail, you also have a duty of care to ensure at your end everything works correctly.
Other than that no issues with the proposals which sound fine in principle.
Comment by Debbie Sinclair posted on
Life would be so easy if criminals would just fill in a computer form to confirm they break laws. Its stupid to ask people to confirm their business activities are lawful because who would say otherwise? As for sanctions if someone lies and breaks the law, isnt that what the police and courts look after?
Comment by DEREK WHITEHEAD posted on
Yes could not agree more.
Comment by CHRIS KWAKPOVWE posted on
GREAT IDEAS! GREAT FUTURE!
Comment by Sazid Mohmed posted on
What diffrance will this make as my tennant had proof of address as he was living at my property when he form a company, he left my property more then year ago i am getting his company outstanding bills and fines, they are in thousends so bailiffs visited my propery many times abusing my tenants, i contacted company house many times they wants proofs that i owne the propery.
I think chang in address will not maje diffrance in my case and company house needs to understand the complain like this and instead of puting burden on home owner (Landlord ) to fill in forms they should make it easy for the owners.
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Sazid, thank you for your comment. From 4 March 2024, the registrar will have greater powers to query and challenge information that appears to be incorrect or inconsistent with information we hold. In some cases, we’ll also be able to remove information more quickly, if that information is inaccurate, incomplete, false or fraudulent.
Comment by Stefan E posted on
... and how exactly do you want a scammed Landlord, as in the case of Sazid Mohmed, prove that they are not the owners of the company that the disappeared tenant left? The answer should be there right in your records, when the names don't fit. No prove required!
As for dormant, or non-trading companies a Statement of lawful Purpose is pretty irrelevant, if there are no activities going on, or possibly never will. I wondered about this or a similar tick box in my last SA return: who's going to state that they are acting unlawfully? And how do you want to prove this? If someone's acting unlawfully that's a matter for the police as per Common Law - no need to get another "authority" involved - who will be squabbling then whose job it is to investigate ...
Comment by Robert Wike posted on
The notice is not clear whether the email address required can be a sole directors email address, as many small companies do not have a company email.
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Robert, thanks for your comment. A company can use a director’s email address, as long as it’s appropriate. An appropriate email address is one at which, in the ordinary course of events, emails sent to it by the registrar would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company.
Comment by Marlon Brandy posted on
No PO boxes and registered email make total sense but lawful purpose seems ridiculous. Will this statement of lawful purpose stop criminals registering a company? Whats next? Everyone who buys a new car needs to sign a declaration that they have no intent of using it as a weapon or getaway car? Of course, if collecting these useless statements creates new jobs, go ahead. Tax money wisely spend.
Comment by Anthony Jones posted on
Not strong enough; too much abuse of Limited Liability status. It is so easy to close a company today and start again tomorrow by various "legal" means. This creates a breakdown of trust which is the bedrock of society.
Comment by Dr hywel willams posted on
Nothing further to add
Comment by A.hakim posted on
I hope will include parking companies ,congestion charge company and dept collectors ltd etc.....
Comment by Karl Hunter posted on
Agree 100% A. hakim.
Comment by Peter Myers posted on
I'm not sure, as im sole shareholder of a limited company since 2013, if I need to provide a statement of lawful purpose. Can you clarify what people in my situation have to do? pretty clear whats required for a registered comp address and email address.
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
All companies will need to confirm that the intended future activities of the company will be lawful.
You’ll need to confirm this every year on the confirmation statement. You will not be able to file a confirmation statement without this statement.
Comment by Dave Clayton posted on
What happens when/if the law changes, such that what was once a legal activity becomes illegal. The statement would have been made in good faith. They did not intend said activity to become illegal at the time of making the statement.
For avoidance of doubt - I have not been there but past experiences of CoHo would suggest they would use it against said person, rather than try to resolve the problem.
NB: All my experiences of company house a have been bad. All but impossible to deal with.
Comment by John Barton posted on
can the registered e-mail address be that of an officer/director
our computer at the club is used by several club members for various club activities
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi John, thanks for your comment. A company can use a director’s email address, as long as it’s appropriate. An appropriate email address is one at which, in the ordinary course of events, emails sent to it by the registrar would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company.
Comment by Matthew posted on
Urgent change is clearly needed. Unless both the physical address and email address are validated by CH sending an "authentication code" of some kind which must be returned to CH in a timely fashion I fear little improvement in current situation will be achieved. Are authentication codes part of the change - most in business and government uses them routinely.
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Matthew, thanks for your comment. There'll be a new ‘update a registered email address’ service. Once signed in and authenticated, users will be able to view the current email address registered and change it, if required. The user will also be able to view the registered email address in their WebFiling company profile and on their confirmation statement. Both will offer links to the service where it can be changed.
Comment by Brian A Craig posted on
Thanks for the information guidance most helpful
Meanwhile will it be possible in future to move a Scottish registered company to registration in England and Wales without de-registering the Scottish one to close it down and registering a new company with same name?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Brian, thanks for your comment. There are no provisions within the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act to change this.
Comment by Benona L Natorff posted on
Hi time to make sure all actions and statements are lawful . Very happy with coming changes.
Comment by Brian Craig posted on
I agree with you. However it seems the Government do not intend even attempt to address the issue. Companies will therefore still potentially be able to be set up for nefarious purposes ?
Perhaps it is believed that the further details required to identify the people controlling the company will be an adequate deterrent?
Perhaps your comment will receive a further reply automated reply or unnamed Government official?
Comment by K K Saglani posted on
Company Director's Identity should be linked with unique ID like NI so that it helps to check associated companies, and those with international addresses should be under more scrutiny.
Comment by malcolm aldrick posted on
We very much welcome these changes to Company Law, after having been fighting, without a successful outcome for the last 18yrs for stolen shares in a £2.5 Million Farming Company in Scotland.
Will this enable Stolen Shares to be re-appropriated to genuine the Shareholder ??
And will a full prosecution be undertaken by the police??
Will Companies House help and provide information in a Fraud Case ??
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Malcolm, thanks for your comment. The act increases our ability to share relevant information with law enforcement partners. We're unable to offer legal advice on specific cases.
Comment by malcolm aldrick posted on
Well it seems this may be a start to helping me recover the stolen shares. If the Fraud Squad are now to be provided with copies of the transfer documents held at companies house. So, in my case this will be enough evidence to prove the fraud. Hopefully this time the police will listen to my case and take it forwards to a prosecution.
Thank you for the reply
Comment by Tina Packwood posted on
I agree.
Comment by Simon posted on
'registered email address' - can this be a public email address or does it have to be a registered domain owned by the company?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Simon, thanks for your comment. All companies must maintain an appropriate email address. An appropriate email address is one at which, in the ordinary course of events, emails sent to it by the registrar would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company. This can be an individual email address and does not need to be a domain name.
Comment by Anthony posted on
Sounds good. However I think a company's email address should be on the public register
Comment by karl Hunter posted on
Anthony. What about Dormant Companies that are only used to hold a name that may be used in the future ?
Comment by Anthony posted on
Should dormant companies be included in the resister or perhaps a separate list. Alternatively, wait until the company is ready to trade then register the name.
Comment by Ian Stuart Foster posted on
Better late than never. I can't see any problems or issues with the upcoming changes but wondering how they ensure 'all actions and statements are lawful ' do they intend following up on a selection of registrations to ensure they are doing 'what it says on the tin'
Comment by Rob posted on
If extra powers are used to chase down actual fraud rather than penalise the struggling everyday folk with petty stuff, I'm all for it...
Comment by Michael Stout posted on
I fully agree, and it's good to see the UK adapting to international realities, and cleaning up its act. This is a good start...
Comment by Kevin STRAUGHAN posted on
I understand how people feel about more paperwork and the irrelevance of providing a statement of lawful purpose - I'm always moaning - BUT that's when your intentions are lawful and you don't think like someone with nefarious intent. Those people who act dishonestly means them signing the statement makes it easier to prosecute when they are found out!!! And some are!!! It's always the few that make life difficult for the majority but something needs to be done - even though it appears minor! Small steps. Remember - YOU can sleep at night not wondering if that door knock is an investigation - They Can't!
Comment by Margaret Cramp posted on
Does the email address have to be a company specific one or can it be the same personal one I use to file my confirmation statements as I have already supplied that on the site?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Margaret, thanks for your comment. A company can use a director’s email address, as long as it’s appropriate. An appropriate email address is one at which, in the ordinary course of events, emails sent to it by the registrar would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company.
Comment by Will posted on
These changes don’t really help. It would have been better to describe in detail the benefits the new legislation is trying to provide.
Comment by Andy Craig posted on
It would be extremely useful for all if each registered Company had to also declare and record their ultimate holding company owner - including Company name and registered number. Obviously single independent Company's would simply repeat the same information.
Believe this would clearly identify true owners of businesses - much in the public interest.
Comment by Mike Hutchinson posted on
This already basically happens.
Comment by Karen posted on
That information is usually provided in the accounts isn't it, if not through the PSC information?
Comment by Mike S posted on
I hope the search is going to be improved too.
The following are GENUINE numbers as of 29/01/24.
Let's pretend we are looking for a John Smith in Longton Road.
Search for "Longton" ( a town near Stoke) and you get 372 matches.
Make the search more specific i.e. "Longton Road" and you get 51,083 matches.
Alter it to "John Smith, Longton Road", with or without the quotes and comma, and you get 331,780 matches. That's a hell of a lot of people called John Smith in Longton Road.
I reported this a few months ago, saying that the each should be "AND" each term, rather than "OR", and got a response saying that was the way it was intended to work.
I certainly wouldn't design the query in that way; when would you ever want a list of all Johns, AND all Smiths, AND all addresses with the word Road in it?
Comment by Simon J posted on
Intent" to act lawfully is about as weaselly as you get - "when I signed it My intention , of course, was to act lawfully, but after I considered the benefits of crime I changed my mind!"
If you are going to do something do something with teeth. Eg make knowingly setting up a company (as an agent, shareholder, or director), with the objective of using the company to facilitate or commit crime of any description including but not limited to fraud, bribery, tax evasion, money laundering, or exploitation of people in any manner, should be specifically criminalised with a minimum prison tariff of a few years and substantial fine.
Comment by Brian M posted on
What does CoHo mean by the term 'registered' in the phrase:
"Our online services will prompt you to supply a registered email address when you file your next eligible confirmation statement."
Where is a register of email addresses? They are not registered. Do you mean that the address has to be registered with CoHo beforehand? Or just that it is a valid email address?
Comment by Luke Cardy posted on
Hi Brian, thanks for your comment. All companies will need to provide a registered email address. Companies House will use this email address to communicate with the company – it will not be available to the public.
New companies will need to give a registered email address when they incorporate. Existing companies will need to give a registered email address when they file their next confirmation statement.
Comment by Alison posted on
Hi
Can you confirm if the email address that needs to be submitted can be one that as accountants we can provide for all of our clients, so that correspondence from yourselves comes directly to us, or does the email address have to be specific to that client and we would need to provide an email address which the company will receive directly? (sorry hope that makes sense!)
Comment by Luke C posted on
Hi Alison, thanks for your comment. A company can use an agent’s email address as long as it’s appropriate. An appropriate email address is one at which, in the ordinary course of events, emails sent to it by the registrar would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company.
Comment by Huw Sayer posted on
When will the changes to small company filing options? Will it be this tax year, next tax year or at some unknown date in the future?
The change will mean that "small and micro-entity companies will need to file their profit and loss accounts" and will not have "the option to file ‘abridged’ accounts."
But when will this happen - it is not clear from any of the briefing documents or blogs. Dates would be really helpful so we can plan.
Thank you.
Comment by Luke C posted on
Hi Huw, thanks for your comment. Streamlining the accounts filing options for small and micro entity companies will be introduced over the next 2-3 years. We know companies want to make sure they’re ready for the changes and we’ll let you know what you need to do and when, so you’ll have time to prepare.
You can keep up to date with the latest updates on our new website (https://changestoukcompanylaw.campaign.gov.uk/changes-to-accounts/) or by registering for our Companies House newsletter (https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKCH/subscriber/new).
Comment by Huw Sayer posted on
Thank you Luke - have signed up for news.