Dormant for Companies House vs dormant for HMRC
Two different legal tests share one word — and mixing them up produces wrong filings. The difference in plain English.
Two tests, one word
Companies House applies a transaction test: a company is dormant if it has no significant accounting transactions in the period, with a short closed list of ignored items (subscriber shares, certain registrar fees, a late-filing penalty). HMRC applies an activity and income test: a company is dormant when it is not trading, not providing services, not earning interest, not managing investments and not receiving other income. The tests overlap but do not match.
How they diverge in practice
The common case: a company that has stopped trading, earns nothing, but pays its own bank charges. For HMRC it is dormant — there is no income and no activity in charge to Corporation Tax. For Companies House it is not dormant — a bank charge is a significant accounting transaction — so it must file micro-entity accounts, not dormant accounts. Bank interest received breaks dormancy on both sides at once: it is income for HMRC and a recorded transaction for Companies House.
Why the distinction decides your filings
Your Companies House status decides which accounts you file: dormant accounts only if the company was dormant (in the Companies House sense) throughout the period. Your HMRC status decides whether Corporation Tax returns keep being demanded: tell HMRC the company is dormant and no further notices to deliver are issued. But a notice already served must be answered whatever your status — no power exists to withdraw it — so the practical routing question is not 'am I dormant?' but 'have I received a notice to deliver?'.
The safe order of operations
First, check the register: what accounts and confirmation statement dates does the company have, and what has been filed before. Second, answer the transaction question honestly for the accounts period — any bank charges, fees or premiums paid by the company itself. Third, deal with HMRC: report dormancy to stop future notices, and file any return already demanded. A tool that asks the transaction question and the notice question separately will route you correctly; one that asks 'is your company dormant?' in a single breath will not.
Guidance, not advice. Reviewed 2026-08-14 against gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk sources.