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Strike off company at Companies House

Striking off your company at Companies House, a process also known as dissolution, is an inexpensive way to close down your business if it’s no longer required. To be eligible, the company must be in a position to pay all of its creditors within 12 months.

Strike-off can be a good closure option if the business has less than £25,000 in retained profits and is commonly used when a director is approaching retirement or moving back into employment.

Obtaining professional advice before starting your application is highly advisable, as if the company is later found to be insolvent you could face investigation by the insolvency service.

Prior to submitting your application, the company must not have done the following during the previous three months:

  • Traded or conducted any transactions apart from those required for strike off
  • Changed its name

Sold property or rights that were owned by the business

How to strike off a company at Companies House

Form DS01 is used to voluntarily dissolve your company and this form is sent to Companies House. A notice is then placed in the Gazette, which publicly advertises your intention to close down so that creditors can object if necessary.

If there are no objections, your application will go through, and the company name will be removed from the register, typically two months after the Gazette notice has been placed. Depending on the size of your business you may need to do some or all of the following before making your application:

Sell your business assets

Before striking off you must sell or transfer all your business assets out of company ownership. Any remaining once the company is struck from the register becomes the property of the Crown under a rule of law known as ‘bona vacantia.’

File company accounts and other paperwork

Submit your final accounts and your company tax return, as well as pay any tax liabilities that fall due. If you’re registered for VAT you’ll need to apply to deregister with HMRC.

Staff issues and payroll

If you employ staff, deal with redundancies where appropriate. Also, contact HMRC to close down your payroll function.

Pay remaining debts and close company bank accounts

Once you’ve paid all outstanding creditors and closed down utility accounts and other services the business used, you can close your company bank accounts.

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Potential complications when striking off your company

It’s possible that a creditor – perhaps a supplier, HMRC, or your bank – could challenge the strike-off. If this happens your application will be put on hold until the matter is resolved. It’s crucial, therefore, to ensure that your business is solvent and that you inform all your creditors before submitting the form to Companies House.

Objections to striking off can even be made after the company is removed from the register. If this happens, your business will be restored and treated as if the dissolution hasn’t taken place.

Company Closure can provide further professional advice on strike-off free of charge, tailoring it to your company. We work from offices around the UK so please get in touch to find out more.

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Beware of the risks of unregulated advisers – only licensed insolvency practitioners can handle insolvency appointments and closure procedures from beginning to end. In contrast, unlicensed insolvency advisers will pass your enquiry onto a third party and charge a premium for doing so. Contact our licensed, specialist team today for FREE.

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