Voluntary strike-off

Before applying

• Pay debts and send final accounts and a Company Tax Return to HMRC. Final accounts do not have to go to Companies House.
• Distribute remaining money and assets, because anything left passes to the Crown as bona vacantia. Distributions before a strike-off are capital only if they total £25,000 or less; otherwise all of it is taxed as income.
• Check the company is not threatened with liquidation and has no agreement with creditors.

The process

1. A majority of the directors sign form DS01 and file it with Companies House.
2. Within 7 days, a copy goes to everyone with an interest, including shareholders, creditors such as HMRC, employees and any director who did not sign.
3. Companies House publishes a Gazette notice; if nobody objects, the company is dissolved after 2 months.

A company closed this way cannot use administrative company restoration; bringing it back needs a court order. If it might be useful later, compare the dormant company rules and SmartFiling’s dormant company accounts service.