The decision was announced on 23 October 2026 in a written statement to the House of Lords (HLWS419) setting out the government’s response to the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce. Companies House confirmed the change in a news update the same day.
What is paused
The written statement says the government “has decided to pause implementing the profit and loss filing requirement for April 2028”. During the pause it will explore options to address concerns about filing information separately at Companies House and HMRC through its “Tell Government Once” ambition.
Companies House said that, in practical terms, the government “will continue to allow companies to file abridged accounts and retain the option for smaller companies to remove, or ‘fillet’, their profit and loss information from the accounts filed at Companies House after 1 April 2028.”
The legislation behind it
The changes had been legislated for in Part 1 of ECCTA. Section 53 inserts a new section 443A into the Companies Act 2006, under which the directors of a micro-entity “must deliver to the registrar a copy of the company’s annual accounts”. Section 54 substitutes a new section 444, requiring the directors of other small companies to deliver the annual accounts and the directors’ report. Section 58 removes the option to abridge Companies Act accounts.
The substituted section 444 has been in force since 26 October 2023 only so far as it confers a power to make regulations. Under the current section 444(1)(b), directors of a company subject to the small companies regime “may also deliver” a copy of the profit and loss account, so filing it remains optional.
What still goes ahead in April 2028
The other accounts reforms will proceed as planned. From April 2028 all UK registered companies must file accounts in iXBRL format using commercial software, whether they file themselves or through agents or accountants. Companies House said its web and paper-based filing systems “will be closed for accounts filings” from that date, although web filing will remain for non-accounts filings such as confirmation statements and updates to director details.
Companies House listed three further changes from April 2028:
- a strengthened eligibility statement for all companies claiming an audit exemption;
- a requirement to file component parts of accounts and reports together;
- a limit to how many times a company can shorten its accounting reference period.
Companies House has updated its ECCTA outline transition plan to remove the profit and loss requirement from the April 2028 changes. An August 2026 update to the same plan had moved the due date for presenter measures to no earlier than November 2027, with at least six months’ notice before implementation.
The wider taskforce response
The taskforce, co-chaired by the Minister for Small Business and Tina McKenzie MBE, National Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, made 15 recommendations. The government accepts all but one. It declined to exempt small dormant and non-trading companies from filing an annual confirmation statement and paying the fee, saying the statement “provides an important annual checkpoint to maintain the accuracy of the companies register.”
The written statement says the government remains “committed to delivering our economic crime objectives whilst also reducing business burdens and improving filing processes.” For directors, company secretarial teams and the agents and accountants who file for them, the immediate effect is that, while the pause lasts, smaller companies keep the option to fillet their profit and loss information from accounts filed after 1 April 2028, while software-only accounts filing still starts in April 2028.