Mar 2024
The ECCTA received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and represents one of the biggest changes to Companies House since corporate registrations were established in 1844.
Why are charges increasing?
The new Act will allow more powers to step in and act on things like crime as well as supporting economic growth, introducing new measures to increase transparency and improve accurate and trusted information on Companies House registers.
Companies House reviews its fees every year, but does so on a cost recovery basis and does not make a profit on its fees. In order to carry out these changes, Companies House will need to increase fees to allow it to cover the costs associated with some of the outlined measures.
Some of these measures include:
- Introducing identity verification.
- Broadening powers over company creation and reliable data.
- Building more reliable and accurate financial information.
- Enhancing the protection of personal information to protect individuals. More details about the measures can be found on the .Gov website here.
Who’s affected by the changes?
All entities registered with Companies House, including public and private limited companies, LLPs and overseas companies will be affected by these changes in the law. It will also apply to agents – so accountants and company formation agents. New companies should also be aware of these new changes and how they will be affected.
How does this affect charges?
The new ECCTA will have a knock-on effect to those wishing to register as a Community Interest Company (CIC). More details on these fee increases can be found here and a full list of new charges can be found here. You can also find more information on the recorded webinar which you can access here. You will need to register your details to access the webinar.
If you have any questions or would like some advice for setting up your business, please contact Downs Solicitors to see how we can help.
