How to Close a Limited Company Yourself (DS01)

Last updated: 27 October 2026 · Written by Axel

If your company has stopped trading, owes nothing and has only a little money left, you can close a limited company yourself by applying for voluntary strike-off on form DS01. It costs £13 online (£18 on paper), but only once the company has not traded for 3 months, and only after you have tidied up the tax, the bank account and whatever money is left. Get the order right and it is a few evenings of admin, not an accountant's bill.

This guide follows a common case: a small company that traded a little, has under £1,000 in the bank, and an owner who is carrying on the same work as a sole trader.

Can you strike off a limited company?

GOV.UK's strike-off guide says you can only apply if the company:

• has not traded or sold off any stock in the last 3 months
• has not changed its name in the last 3 months
• is not threatened with liquidation
• has no agreements with creditors, such as a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA)

If it fails any of those, strike-off is the wrong route and the company has to be liquidated instead. The one people trip over is the 3 months. The test is whether the company has traded or sold off any stock in that time, so finish the last job before the clock starts, then wait.

Stopped trading months ago?

The date that counts is the day the company actually stopped trading, even if you only decide to close it months later. Say the last job was on 30 June and you make up your mind on 20 October:

• The final tax period ends on 30 June. Ceasing to trade ends the accounting period on that date, not on the day you decide.
• The 3 months may already be up. The test counts back from the day you apply. If the company has done nothing since 30 June except wind down, you can apply as soon as the tax and the money are sorted.
• VAT is the catch. The 30 days to cancel a VAT registration run from when you stopped making taxable supplies, not from when you decided. If the company is registered, cancel now, give the real date, and expect that HMRC could charge a penalty for the delay.
• The date has to be true. A July invoice or July takings in the bank mean the company was still trading in July, and HMRC can see the bank statements.

If the company's year end is later than the day it stopped, say 31 October, the final accounts and the final tax return no longer line up. The tidy fix is to shorten the company's financial year to the day trading stopped, online with Companies House. You cannot do it while accounts are overdue, and GOV.UK says to update the dates with HMRC too. Then the final accounts and the final CT600 both run to 30 June. Do this first if you file with A.X.E.L: the return always ends on the date your accounts end.

Step 1: stop trading and tidy up

Pick a date and make it the last day of trading. After that, the company should only be winding down: collecting what it is owed, paying its bills, and nothing else.

• Customers and suppliers: finish or hand over open jobs, send final invoices, cancel subscriptions and direct debits in the company's name.
• Domain names and other assets: GOV.UK specifically mentions transferring domain names before you apply. If the domain, van or tools are moving to your sole trade, move them now.
• Director's loan: if you owe the company money, deal with it before you take anything out. Our guide to the s455 charge on director's loans explains why an overdrawn account matters.

Step 2: VAT and payroll, if you have them

Many small companies have neither. If yours has either, close them properly.

VAT. HMRC says you must cancel your VAT registration within 30 days of stopping taxable supplies, or you might be charged a penalty. You file a final VAT return for the period ending on the cancellation date. You also have to account for VAT on stock and other assets you still hold if you reclaimed (or could have reclaimed) VAT on them, but only if the total VAT due is over £1,000. HMRC usually confirms the cancellation within 40 working days.

Payroll. If the company ran a PAYE scheme, even just for your own director's salary, close it. Send a final Full Payment Submission or Employer Payment Summary, tick "Final submission because scheme ceased", enter the date the scheme ceased, and pay any outstanding tax and National Insurance. If you had staff, the redundancy rules and final wages come first.

Step 3: final accounts and CT600

Under the Corporation Tax Act 2009, section 10, a company's accounting period ends when it starts or ceases to trade. So stopping trading ends the period. Your final Company Tax Return (CT600) covers the start of that period up to the day trading stopped, even if that is only a few months.

GOV.UK's closing-down rules are clear:

• send final statutory accounts and a Company Tax Return to HMRC
• state that these are the final trading accounts and that the company will soon be struck off
• pay all Corporation Tax and any other tax owed
• you do not have to file final accounts with Companies House

If the final year made a loss, you may be able to claim terminal loss relief on the final return, setting it against profits from earlier years. The normal deadlines still apply (12 months to file, 9 months and one day to pay), and you can see them laid out at ct600.axel.trade/filing-deadlines. Do not wait for them. Sensible practice is to file and pay before you apply, because the money to pay the tax has to come out of the company bank account you are about to close.

If you have filed a CT600 before, the final one is the same form. Our walkthrough on how to file a CT600 yourself covers it, and micro-entity accounts explained covers the accounts that sit behind it.

Step 4: take out the money that is left

Once the tax is paid, whatever is left belongs to the shareholders. Take it out before the company is struck off. GOV.UK puts it bluntly: anything left goes to the Crown, including future payments such as HMRC refunds, and you would have to restore the company to get it back.

How it is taxed depends on the amount. Under section 1030A of the Corporation Tax Act 2010, a distribution in respect of share capital, made in anticipation of dissolution once you intend to apply (or have applied) for strike-off, is treated as capital, not as a dividend, if:

• the company intends to collect what it is owed and pay its debts (or has done), and
• the total of those distributions does not exceed £25,000

Capital means Capital Gains Tax, reported on your own Self Assessment return. Individuals have a £3,000 annual tax-free allowance, so in our example, where a few hundred pounds goes to the owner, the gain will usually sit inside it if there are no other gains that year. Go over £25,000 and GOV.UK says the whole amount is treated as income and taxed as such.

Carrying on the same work afterwards? There is an anti-avoidance rule aimed at people who close a company, take the money as capital and start the same business again. Where avoiding income tax was a main reason for closing, the money can be taxed as a dividend instead. Switching to a sole trade because a company is not worth the hassle is a different thing, but if there is a larger sum involved, it is worth asking an accountant.

You could pay an ordinary final dividend instead, but that needs enough retained profits in the company and is taxed as a dividend, not as capital. The capital route above is the one GOV.UK describes for strike-off, and the salary vs dividends guide covers how dividends are taxed.

Step 5: close the bank account and apply

Close the company bank account before you send the DS01. After strike-off you lose access to it anyway, and any balance passes to the Crown.

Then apply on form DS01, online or by post. It must be signed by a majority of the directors. Within 7 days of applying, send a copy to anyone who could be affected:

• members (usually the shareholders)
• creditors
• employees
• managers or trustees of any employee pension fund
• any directors who did not sign the form

Skipping this can lead to a fine and possible prosecution, and so can a dishonest application. For a one-person company the list may be short, but check it.

The timeline from last job to dissolved

So the realistic minimum, from last invoice to dissolved, is a little over 5 months. If you change your mind while the company is still on the register, you can withdraw online or on form DS02.

After it is struck off

GOV.UK says to keep business documents such as bank statements, invoices and receipts for 7 years after the company is struck off. If the company employed people, keep copies of its employers' liability insurance policy and schedule too.

If you are carrying on as a sole trader, you now need to register for Self Assessment if you have not already. Registering is free with HMRC, and our guide to getting a UTR walks through it.

When an accountant is worth paying for

A DIY strike-off suits the simple case. Pay for proper advice if any of these apply:

• You want to keep the VAT number. Moving a VAT registration to a sole trade is a transfer, not a cancellation, and it is easy to get wrong.
• There is real money left. Above a few thousand pounds the tax on what you take out matters, and Business Asset Disposal Relief (18% on qualifying gains from 6 April 2026) has conditions worth checking. Above £25,000, a members' voluntary liquidation is usually the conversation.
• There are debts you cannot pay or a creditor is chasing you. Strike-off is not available to a company threatened with liquidation.

Closing the company and carrying on

For our example owner, the whole job is: stop trading, file the final accounts and CT600, pay the tax, take out the few hundred pounds left, close the bank account, wait out the 3 months and send a £13 DS01. Then the company quietly disappears two months after the Gazette notice, and the work carries on under your own name.

Axel

Full-stack developer and founder of AXEL.TRADE, with 10+ years running businesses. Based in Manchester, building websites and the A.X.E.L platform for tradesmen and small businesses.