My client has been served with summons because his previous accountant did not file the annual return before the deadline despite the acountant confirming to my client that he had done so. The client's parent have both been ill in hospital so he accepted what the accountant said without checking with companies House whether it had been done or not. He only realised that the accountant had not filed when he was served with the summons. The annual return has now been filed. I enquired at Companies House and they said that the client has 2 options. One is to plead guilty and send the forn into court - in this case he does not have to attend the Hearing but he would have a criminal record which would stay for 5 years. The other option is to plead not guilty and attend the Hearing and put his case forward and let the court make the decision. The previous accountant has sent him a letter apologising and saying that it was their fault.
Does anyone have experience of what view the court would take if the client attends and puts all the relevant information to the Court including letter from previous accountant.
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How late was it?
I have never heard of anyone getting a penalty for late submission of an annual return
How late?
How late was the annual return when eventually filed?
The record I've seen (a couple of years back) for a new client whose previous accountant had filed accounts was 5 years of annual returns in one go.
I've only previously ever seen Companies House apply to strike off companies that failed to file annual returns.
Directors didn't get reminders
The Directors would have been sent reminders and notification to their home address, regardless of Registered Office address?
I always find it a bit frustrating when people blame their accountant all the time. Admittedly, it shouldn't have been late and the Accountant can accept some responsibility but not all!
And agree, I think you mean accounts late, not annual return.