UK Closing a Limited Company

[therecruiter]

I have recently started trading as a Limited Company but feel that it would have been best to have opened as a Sole Trader (both financially and to allow me to keep on top of things). I have previously been employed and this is my first venture into self-employment. I have a bank account registered in the company name but as I have only been operating for 5 weeks the only transactions have been payments from monies that I placed into the account from my personal account. I have not received any money from clients.
How do I close the Limited Company and would I still need to produce a set of accounts?
I appreciate that I will need to register as self-employed but would I then immediately be able to use the same trading name as a Sole Trader (but drop the Limited)?
Any help or advice on this would be gratefully received as I do not know where to seek advice.

 

[Samir]

I would keep the company open. You can more easily book expenses to the company, which you would not be able to do as a sole proprietor.

You always need to have accounts. No way to know where you're going without good books.

 

[Kathrin Doelle]

Hi,

you can close a limited company by submitting form DS01 to Companies House. You should then inform HMRC that you are intending to close the company, too.

You don't have to submit a set of accounts to Companies House, but chances are that you'll have to do a CT600 and at least a set of management accounts for the Revenue, although from what you say it's not quite clear whether the company has been trading or not (the fact that no monies have gone into the bank account doesn't necessarily mean that it hasn't started trading, and you do, in fact, say that you "recently started trading as a limited company").

I can't see why you shouldn't be able to use the same trading name as the company, but drop the Limited. They're two different legal entities, after all, and it's not misleading in any shape or form.

I hope this helps.

K