Most pages listing Companies House fees show you four of them.
There are more than sixty, and the one that catches people is not incorporation. It is restoration, at £341.
The short answer: the fees you will actually pay
For a normal UK limited company, these are the only four that matter in a typical year.
| Filing | Online | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporation | £100 | £124 |
| Same day incorporation | £156 | n/a |
| Confirmation statement, annual | £50 | £110 |
| Change of name | £20 | £30 |
Two observations before the full list:
- Paper always costs more. Every single time, without exception.
- Incorporation used to be £50. It doubled. Any guide still quoting £12, £13 or £50 is out of date, and if it is wrong on the headline fee it is unlikely to be right on the rest.
Company incorporation and registration, in full
| Service | Online | Software | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incorporation | £100 | £100 | £124 |
| Same day incorporation | n/a | £156 | n/a |
| Change of name | £20 | £20 | £30 |
| Same day change of name | £85 | £85 | n/a |
| Re-registration | n/a | n/a | £124 |
| Confirmation statement, 12-month period | £50 | £50 | £110 |
| Voluntary strike off | £13 | n/a | £18 |
| Registration of a charge | £14 | £14 | £24 |
| Reduction of capital by solvency statement | n/a | n/a | £20 |
| Same day reduction of capital | n/a | n/a | £89 |
| Reduction of capital by court order | n/a | n/a | £20 |
| Administrative restoration | n/a | n/a | £341 |
| Remove personal details from register | n/a | n/a | £34 |
Limited liability partnerships
An LLP pays the same fees as a company, with one difference: fewer routes are available online.
| Service | Online | Software | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incorporation of an LLP | n/a | £100 | £124 |
| Same day LLP incorporation | n/a | £156 | n/a |
| LLP confirmation statement | £50 | £50 | £110 |
| LLP change of name | n/a | £20 | £30 |
| Same day LLP change of name | n/a | £85 | n/a |
| LLP voluntary strike off | £13 | n/a | £18 |
| Registration of a charge by an LLP | £14 | £14 | £24 |
| Administrative restoration of an LLP | n/a | n/a | £341 |
Overseas companies and overseas entities
These are two different registers and people mix them up constantly.
An overseas company registering a UK establishment, a branch of a foreign company:
| Service | Paper |
|---|---|
| Registration of UK establishment | £124 |
| Change of corporate name | £30 |
| Annual document processing fee | £110 |
The Register of Overseas Entities, for foreign entities owning UK property. Different regime, much higher fees:
| Service | Online | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| Registration of an overseas entity | £250 | £528 |
| Annual update fee | £134 | £268 |
| Application for removal | £301 | £602 |
| Application for trust information | £55 | n/a |
The ROE fees are the highest recurring fees on the whole schedule. If you are structuring UK property ownership through a non-UK entity, the £134 annual update is a permanent line item.
Community interest companies
| Service | Online | Software | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration of a CIC | £115 | £115 | £139 |
| Conversion of a limited company to a CIC | n/a | n/a | £45 |
A CIC costs £15 more to incorporate than an ordinary company, because of the community interest test.
Partnerships and other entity types
| Entity | Registration | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Limited partnership | £124 paper | n/a |
| Private fund limited partnership designation | £30 paper | n/a |
| Scottish limited partnership | £124 paper | £110 |
| Scottish qualifying partnership | £124 paper | £110 |
| Unlimited company | £124 paper | n/a |
| EEIG UK establishment | £124 paper | n/a |
| UK Societas conversion to PLC | £124 paper | n/a |
Protection applications
If you need your details suppressed on the public register, each application is £100.
| Application | Fee |
|---|---|
| Section 243, suppress director's usual residential address | £100 |
| Section 790ZF, suppress PSC residential address | £100 |
| Section 790ZG, protection from disclosure | £100 |
| Combined 790ZF and 790ZG | £100 |
| Section 790ZF where already a Section 243 beneficiary | £15 |
| Section 243 where already a Section 790ZF beneficiary | £15 |
The £15 rate is the one worth knowing. If you already hold one protection, the second costs a fraction of the first.
Documents, copies and certificates
| Item | Standard | Same day |
|---|---|---|
| Copy of a document by email | £3 | n/a |
| Hard copy by post | £9 | n/a |
| Certified copy by post, up to 10 pages | £22 | £65 |
| Certificate of incorporation by post | £22 | £65 |
| Additional certificate | £16 | £65 |
| Archive search by post or telephone | £20 | n/a |
Most of what people pay £22 for here is available free on the public register as a PDF. You pay for certification, not for the information. Banks and notaries ask for certified copies; nobody else needs one.
The XML Gateway, for high volume filers
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Monthly subscription per account | £4.70 |
| Personal appointments lookup | £1 |
| Document image download | £1 |
A 15% discount applies to monthly invoice totals.
Where the money actually goes wrong
Four traps, in order of how much they cost people:
- Restoration at £341. Let a company be struck off and getting it back costs more than three incorporations. It happens most often to dormant companies whose owner stopped filing the confirmation statement.
- Paper filing by default. Every paper route costs 20 to 120 percent more than its digital equivalent. There is almost never a reason to file on paper.
- Same-day services bought out of anxiety. £156 instead of £100 to save a day, and £65 instead of £22 for a certificate. Occasionally justified, usually not.
- Reseller pricing mistaken for state fees. A formation package at £199 is not a Companies House fee. The state fee inside it is £100.
And one that is not a Companies House fee at all: late filing penalties for accounts are charged separately, escalate with delay, and double if you are late two years running. They are not on this schedule, and they are the largest avoidable cost in the whole system.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to register a company with Companies House?
£100 online or by software, £124 on paper. Same-day incorporation is £156.
Why did Companies House fees go up?
Incorporation rose from £50 to £100 and other fees rose alongside it, funding the new powers and identity verification duties introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.
How much is a confirmation statement?
£50 online, £110 on paper, once per 12-month payment period.
Is there an annual fee for a UK company?
Yes, the £50 confirmation statement. There is no separate registration renewal fee.
How much does it cost to close a company?
£13 online for voluntary strike off, £18 on paper.
How much to restore a struck-off company?
£341 for administrative restoration, paper only.
How much is registering a charge?
£14 online or by software, £24 on paper.
Are Companies House fees refundable?
Generally no. Fees are for processing the application, not for a successful outcome.
Is paper filing ever cheaper?
No. Every paper fee on the schedule is higher than its digital equivalent.
Are late filing penalties included in these fees?
No. Penalties for late accounts are charged separately, escalate with the delay, and double if you file late two years in a row.
Sources
- Companies House: register fees and how to pay
- Companies House: find and update company information
- GOV.UK: late filing penalties for company accounts
Every figure here is the published Companies House schedule as at September 2026; the fees are reviewed periodically and the incorporation fee has already doubled once. Late filing penalties are set separately from this schedule. Prices charged by formation agents are commercial and include the state fee rather than being one.