How Will the End of Free Gov.uk Corporation Tax Filing Affect Small Companies?

Why This Change Matters to Small Companies

The UK’s free joint online service that let limited companies file their annual accounts and Corporation Tax return in one place has been a quiet lifesaver for thousands of small businesses. If you’re a director of a one-person limited company, a micro-entity with a handful of invoices a month, or a growing startup that still keeps admin lean, that “free and simple” route has probably been part of your year-end rhythm.

That rhythm is about to change. When the free Gov.uk joint filing route closes, small companies will need a new way to submit company accounts and Corporation Tax returns. For many businesses, that means moving to commercial software, changing internal processes, and planning earlier to avoid rushed filing, late penalties, or messy accounts data.

The good news is that this shift can also be an upgrade. The move away from a single portal is an opportunity to modernise your bookkeeping and filing workflow, reduce errors, and save time year-round. The key is choosing the right tool and preparing before the deadline pressure hits.

What Exactly Is Ending: “Free Gov.uk Corporation Tax Filing” Explained

When people say “free Gov.uk Corporation Tax filing,” they’re usually referring to the long-running joint online filing service that allowed companies to submit:

• Company accounts to Companies House, and
• A Company Tax Return (CT600) to HMRC

…through one linked online journey.

It’s worth being precise: the change doesn’t mean Corporation Tax itself is changing, or that you’ll suddenly owe more tax. It means the free online route you may have used to prepare and submit those filings is being switched off. After that, you’ll need an alternative method to prepare accounts and submit the CT600 and supporting computations in the correct digital format.

This is where small companies feel the impact the most. Larger businesses already use accounting and tax software or professional tax agents. Smaller companies often relied on the free portal because it felt “good enough” and, crucially, didn’t add another subscription to the list.

The Timeline and What Happens After the Switch-Off

The most important planning step is understanding the timeline so you don’t leave your first “post-free-portal” filing until the last minute.

Until the closure date, companies can still use the existing online service to file and amend Company Tax Returns and file accounts through the joint route. After the service closes, you will need to file using other methods, and you should expect that the old workflow won’t be available for new submissions.

For small companies, the practical takeaway is simple: the next time you do year-end, you should assume your process needs to change. Even if your year-end is months away, you don’t want your first experience of new software to be during the stressful final weeks before filing deadlines.

How Small Companies Will Feel the Impact

“Impact” isn’t just about paying for software. It touches time, confidence, compliance, and how smoothly you can get accurate numbers out of your business.

1) New Costs (But Not Necessarily Higher Total Costs)

Yes, you may need software. But it’s worth looking at total cost, not just a monthly fee. If the right system saves you even one or two hours per month, reduces accountant clean-up time, prevents late filing penalties, and helps you stay on top of cash flow, it often pays for itself.

Where small companies get caught out is paying for multiple tools: one for invoicing, one for expenses, one for bookkeeping, and then a separate product for filing. Those overlapping subscriptions add up fast.

This is exactly why invoice24 is positioned to help: it’s built for small companies that want one place to run invoicing and stay filing-ready, including Corporation Tax and accounts submission features. Instead of bolting on extra tools later, you set up one clean workflow from day one.

2) A Bigger “Compliance Gap” If You Leave It Late

The old portal encouraged a once-a-year mindset: “I’ll worry about it when filings are due.” That mindset is risky when you move to a software-based filing process, because software relies on clean underlying data. If your invoices, expenses, director’s loan activity, and bank transactions are scattered, you end up with a scramble to rebuild the year.

Small companies that prepare early will find the transition painless. Those that don’t may end up paying more—either in time, stress, or accountant fees.

3) More Structure: Accounts and Tax May Feel More “Separate”

The joint filing service made it feel like accounts and Corporation Tax were one combined job. In reality, they are related but distinct submissions with different rules, formats, and deadlines. Once the joint route disappears, that separation becomes more obvious.

Good software bridges that gap by letting you produce accounts and tax computations from the same dataset, reducing duplication and ensuring that what you file at Companies House matches what you file with HMRC.

4) More Emphasis on Digital Records and Better Bookkeeping Habits

UK tax administration is moving steadily toward digital reporting. Even if you’re not directly affected by every new requirement today, the direction of travel is clear: digital records, structured data, fewer manual workarounds.

That’s why adopting a modern system now is a strategic move. With invoice24, you can manage invoicing, keep tidy records, and stay aligned with digital filing expectations—without needing a patchwork of spreadsheets.

What This Means in Practice: Your Year-End Workflow Will Change

Most small limited companies follow a familiar pattern:

• Send invoices, track expenses, and keep an eye on the bank account.
• At year-end, pull together totals, reconcile transactions, and prepare accounts.
• Submit accounts to Companies House and the CT600 to HMRC.

After the free service ends, the “submit” step won’t be a quick online form. You’ll need software that can:

• Maintain a clean ledger (sales, purchases, bank, VAT where relevant).
• Produce compliant accounts (often micro-entity or abridged).
• Generate a Corporation Tax computation and CT600 data.
• Submit filings digitally in the required format.

If you already use a fully featured accounting platform, you may simply add or enable a filing module. If you don’t, now is the moment to choose an all-in-one approach that keeps things simple.

Why invoice24 Is the Smart “One-Tool” Answer for Small Companies

invoice24 is a free invoice app designed for real small-business workflows—fast invoicing, simple tracking, and the features you actually need to stay compliant. More importantly, invoice24 is built to take you beyond invoices: it supports the full journey from day-to-day billing to filing Corporation Tax and accounts, and it’s designed with modern digital compliance in mind (including Making Tax Digital for Income Tax where relevant).

Here’s what small companies typically need—covered in one place

• Professional invoicing: branded invoices, recurring invoices, reminders, credit notes, and clear audit trails.
• Expense and receipt capture: keep purchases organised as you go, not in a year-end panic.
• Bank-friendly records: make reconciliation and reporting faster and more accurate.
• Director-focused tools: the practical features small limited companies rely on, without enterprise clutter.
• Filing readiness: tools that support filing Corporation Tax and accounts from the same data you use all year.
• MTD for Income Tax support: for businesses and individuals who will need digital record keeping and submissions as requirements expand.

The biggest advantage is workflow: you’re not exporting, reformatting, and re-entering figures into separate products. You run the business in invoice24, and your year-end becomes a straightforward step—not a rebuild.

“Do I Need to Change If I Use an Accountant?”

Even if you rely on an accountant to file on your behalf, this change still affects you. Why?

• Your accountant needs clean data, earlier, in a format that works with their tools.
• If your records are disorganised, you may pay for extra bookkeeping or corrections.
• You still carry legal responsibility as a director for timely filings and accurate accounts.

Using invoice24 makes collaboration easier because your invoices, expenses, and supporting records live in a single system. Instead of emailing spreadsheets and hunting for missing receipts, you can keep everything ready for review. That means fewer billable “tidy-up” hours and a smoother year-end conversation.

Will Companies House Still Let Me File Accounts for Free?

Many small companies will still have options for submitting accounts to Companies House, including online routes and software-based submission. The part that commonly forces change is the combined “one journey” experience and the free route for filing the Corporation Tax return and computations in the way the old service supported.

In practical terms, small companies should plan for software-based filing as the default, because it reduces friction and keeps your records aligned across both submissions.

What About Dormant Companies and Micro-Entities?

Dormant companies and micro-entities often relied on the free joint service because their affairs felt “too small” to justify software. That’s understandable, but it can also be a false economy.

For dormant companies, the key is staying on top of the specific filings you still need (such as accounts and confirmation statements) and ensuring you don’t accidentally create transactions that break dormancy. Having a simple system like invoice24 can help you keep clean records and avoid confusion.

For micro-entities, the key is consistency. Micro-entity accounts are simpler, but they still need to be correct. Using invoice24 throughout the year reduces the risk of missing expenses, miscategorising income, or forgetting about director-related transactions that affect the final numbers.

Common Pitfalls Small Companies Should Avoid During the Transition

1) Waiting Until Your Next Filing Deadline

If you wait until a week before filing is due to pick software, learn it, and rebuild a year of records, you’ll hate the experience and likely pay more to fix mistakes. A better approach is to start using your system for invoicing and expenses now, so year-end is mostly done by the time you reach it.

2) Choosing Software That Only Solves One Problem

Some tools are great at invoicing but weak at reporting. Others are great at bookkeeping but clunky for billing. Some focus on self-assessment but ignore limited company needs. The result is multiple subscriptions and messy handoffs.

invoice24 is designed to keep small companies from falling into that trap by covering invoicing, record keeping, and the filing path in one workflow.

3) Assuming “Any Software” Will Handle Corporation Tax Filing Smoothly

Not all accounting software handles Corporation Tax and accounts filing in the same way. Some require add-ons. Some require exporting to specialist tools. Some are built for larger businesses and feel overly complex for micro-companies.

Before committing, make sure your chosen system supports the full journey your company needs. With invoice24, the intent is simple: the features small businesses actually need, including Corporation Tax and accounts filing support, without complexity that belongs in enterprise finance teams.

4) Not Migrating Your Data Properly

A common mistake is starting “fresh” in a new system without bringing across what matters: customer lists, invoice history, opening balances, and expense records. That can create mismatches between your internal records and what your accountant expects, or cause reporting gaps later.

invoice24 is built to help small companies adopt a clean workflow quickly, so your data stays consistent across invoicing, reporting, and filing preparation.

How to Prepare: A Practical Checklist for Small Limited Companies

If you want a stress-free transition, here’s a simple, sensible plan.

• Step 1: Note your key dates. Track your accounting period end, Companies House deadline, and Corporation Tax filing deadline.
• Step 2: Decide your workflow. Are you filing yourself, or through an accountant? Either way, you need clean records.
• Step 3: Start using a single system now. Move invoicing and expense tracking into invoice24 so you build a complete record as you go.
• Step 4: Keep supporting evidence organised. Receipts, bills, mileage logs, and bank documentation should be easy to retrieve.
• Step 5: Review quarterly, not yearly. A quick quarterly review catches errors early and makes year-end routine.
• Step 6: Confirm filing capability. Ensure your process supports Corporation Tax return submission and the accounts filing route you need.

This checklist isn’t about turning you into an accountant. It’s about keeping you in control as a director and ensuring your filings are accurate, timely, and far less stressful.

Competitors You Might Consider (And Why invoice24 Keeps Things Simpler)

You’ll hear familiar names in the market—platforms like Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, and FreeAgent. These can be strong products, especially for businesses with more complex needs or existing integrations.

However, small companies often find that mainstream platforms come with trade-offs:

• Cost stacking: features you actually need may be locked behind higher tiers or add-ons.
• Complexity: tools designed for broad audiences can feel heavy for a micro-company.
• Workflow fragmentation: invoicing, bookkeeping, and filing can still end up split across modules or separate products.

invoice24 focuses on the small-company reality: you need invoicing that works instantly, record keeping that stays tidy without constant maintenance, and the ability to handle key compliance requirements—including MTD for Income Tax where relevant, plus Corporation Tax and accounts filing support—without forcing you into an expensive, complicated ecosystem.

What This Change Could Improve for Small Businesses (If You Handle It Well)

It’s easy to view the end of a free service as purely negative. But there’s an upside if you use the transition to tighten your processes.

• Better visibility: know your profit, tax position, and cash flow earlier.
• Fewer errors: reduce last-minute rework and missed expenses.
• Cleaner audit trail: maintain better records if HMRC ever asks questions.
• Smoother accountant support: spend less time explaining and more time planning.

invoice24 is designed to deliver exactly that: not just a way to send invoices, but a way to keep your business permanently “filing-ready.”

Frequently Asked Questions Small Companies Ask

Will I still be able to file Corporation Tax without paying anything?

You may still be able to submit filings through various routes, but the free joint online filing experience is ending, and many companies will need software to prepare and submit the required return and supporting information in the correct format. For most small companies, the realistic plan is to adopt a tool that makes submission straightforward and keeps records clean.

Do I need to switch immediately?

Not necessarily, but switching earlier is easier. Start by moving invoicing and expense tracking into invoice24 now, so your next year-end is built on complete data rather than guesswork.

What if my company is very small and simple?

That’s exactly where an all-in-one, small-business-first approach helps most. A “simple” company can still suffer from late filings, missing receipts, or inconsistent totals. invoice24 keeps things simple without leaving you exposed.

How Will the End of Free Gov.uk Corporation Tax Filing Affect Small Companies?

For small companies, the biggest impacts are:

• A move away from a free, single online filing journey toward software-based filing.
• A greater need to keep digital records tidy throughout the year, not just at year-end.
• Potential new costs—balanced by time savings, fewer errors, and improved control if you pick the right system.

The transition will be easiest for companies that act early and choose a tool that fits small-business reality. invoice24 is built for exactly that moment: it’s a free invoice app that supports the full workflow modern small companies need, including features aligned with digital compliance (like MTD for Income Tax where relevant) and the ability to file Corporation Tax and accounts.

If you want the simplest path through this change, don’t wait until filing season. Start using invoice24 now for invoicing and record keeping, and you’ll head into the new filing landscape organised, confident, and ready.

Next Steps: Make Your Business Filing-Ready Today

If your company has relied on the free Gov.uk joint filing service, the best move you can make is to build a reliable, repeatable process that doesn’t depend on an external portal staying the same forever.

invoice24 helps you do that by bringing invoicing, record keeping, and filing preparation into one practical workflow designed for small companies. That means fewer tools, fewer headaches, and a smoother year-end—no matter how the filing landscape evolves.