Accounting

Company formation & filings

SIC code change

Standard Industrial Classification codes are the five-digit codes from the UK SIC 2007 list that describe a company's business activities on the Companies House register. Every company must have at least one and may have up to four, with the main activity by turnover listed first. The code has no legal effect on what the company may do and no direct effect on its tax, which is why it is treated carelessly at incorporation and left unchanged as businesses evolve. It is also why so many registers describe a business that no longer exists, or never did, because a formation website defaulted to a generic code or a founder picked the first plausible entry.

£39 · fixed + £50 Companies House fee · plus £50 Companies House fee

Next deadlines

  • Companies House identity verification for directors and PSCs, phased in from 18 November 2025
  • Confirmation statement due within 14 days of your review date, at least once every 12 months
  • Companies House accounts due 9 months after your year end (a 31 December year end files by 30 September)
  • Corporation Tax payment, 9 months and 1 day after your year end (a 31 December year end pays by 1 October)

Fees

Packages, fixed and published

£39

SIC code change, filed via confirmation statement

£59

SIC change + full record review in the same filing

The Companies House fee of £50 is charged by Companies House, shown separately on your quote and passed on at cost. It is not part of our fee.

Who this is for

SIC Code Change

Limited companies across the UK whose activities have changed since incorporation, companies that chose a wrong or vague code when forming, companies that have been told by a lender, grant body, insurer or marketplace that their SIC code is a problem, dormant companies being brought into use for a different business, and companies whose code was set by a formation agent without asking.

What is included

Inside the fixed fee

  • Review of the company's current SIC codes against its actual activities and the official UK SIC 2007 list
  • The right code or codes selected, up to four, with the primary activity first
  • The change filed within a confirmation statement, since SIC codes can only be changed this way
  • The confirmation statement itself checked and filed, with the £50 Companies House fee shown separately
  • A full review of the rest of the register in the same filing in the £59 package
  • Guidance on where SIC codes matter: lenders, grants, insurers, marketplaces and HMRC risk profiling

In detail

How sic code change works

The code matters because other people use it. Lenders and government-backed loan schemes screen eligibility by SIC code, and some exclude particular sectors entirely. Grant bodies define eligible activities by code. Insurers use codes in underwriting and may question a claim where the code does not match the activity. Marketplaces and payment providers check codes against their prohibited categories. HMRC compares codes with accounts and VAT returns when profiling risk, and a mismatch invites questions. Credit reference agencies and prospective customers read the code as a description of the business. A wrong code rarely causes a problem until it blocks something that matters.

SIC codes can only be changed through a confirmation statement. There is no separate form. The statement can be filed at any time without affecting the company's review date, and the Companies House fee of £50 applies to each filing. Our £39 service selects the correct codes with you from the official list, explaining close alternatives and the particular traps around holding companies, property companies and dormant companies, and files the statement with the change. Where the company's own statement is due within a month or two, the change is simply included in our standard confirmation statement with updates at £49, and a separate filing is unnecessary.

Because a statement is being filed in any case, the £59 package reviews the whole register at the same time: officers against who actually serves, the registered office and registered email address, shareholders and the statement of capital against the register of members, and the PSC register against who owns and controls the company. Corrections that can be made within the statement are made there; those requiring their own forms, such as director or PSC changes, are filed alongside. Most companies that have not reviewed the register since incorporation need at least one correction beyond the SIC code, and the statement is the most economical moment to make them.

The right code describes what the company does now. A dormant company should carry 99999 and a non-trading company 74990, switching to a trading code when activity begins. Holding companies use 64209 or 70100 depending on their function, property investment companies 68209, property traders 68100, and a business with genuinely mixed activities lists up to four codes in order of significance, never codes for activities it does not carry on. Everything is handled online, the fees are fixed with the Companies House fee shown separately, and nothing is filed until the company has approved the codes and the statement.

Process

From first message to filed

  1. Scope the job

    We find out what you need filed, when it is due and what state the records are in, and tell you which fixed-fee package applies.

  2. Agree the price

    The fee is confirmed in writing. There is no hourly billing and nothing added for questions during the work.

  3. Hand over the records

    Photographs, PDFs, software access or a spreadsheet, sent however suits you. We confirm what we have and what is missing within two working days.

  4. Approve, then we submit

    You review the draft with our explanation, sign off, and we file. Receipts, copies and the next deadlines come back to you immediately.

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

CIS deductions

Under the Construction Industry Scheme, contractors deduct 20% from a registered subcontractor's labour invoices, or 30% if unregistered, and pay it to HMRC. The subcontractor reclaims the deductions against their actual tax through Self Assessment, usually producing a refund because deductions are on turnover while tax is on profit. Contractors file a monthly return by the 19th.

Confirmation statements and identity verification

The confirmation statement is the annual check that the public register is right: officers, registered office, SIC codes, shareholders and the PSC register. It carries a £50 fee and no financial penalty for lateness, but failure to file leads to compulsory strike-off. The identity verification regime introduced in November 2025 has added a further check to every statement.

Director's loan accounts

A director's loan account records money moving between a director and the company that is not salary or dividend. If the director owes the company money nine months and one day after the year end, the company pays section 455 tax at 35.75% of the balance, refundable only when the loan is repaid. Loans over £10,000 are also a benefit in kind unless interest is charged at HMRC's official rate.

Salary versus dividends

Paying yourself from a company involves two routes with different tax treatment. Salary through payroll is a company expense and builds a National Insurance record; dividends come from post-tax profit at lower personal rates. Undocumented drawings that are neither become director's loans, with a 35.75% section 455 charge if not repaid within nine months of the year end.

Corporation Tax rates and marginal relief

Companies pay Corporation Tax at 19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% on profits over £250,000. Between those figures marginal relief applies, producing an effective rate that rises gradually and a marginal rate of 26.5% on each pound in the band. The thresholds are divided by the number of associated companies, so a director with two companies has thresholds of £25,000 and £125,000 for each.

The VAT registration threshold

VAT registration is compulsory once taxable turnover in any rolling twelve-month period exceeds £90,000, or when you expect to exceed that in the next thirty days alone. The test is rolling, not by tax year, and includes zero-rated sales. Businesses regularly cross it without noticing, and late registration means accounting for VAT on sales where it was never charged to customers.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, extends to those over £30,000 in April 2027 and is planned for £20,000 in April 2028. It requires digital records in compatible software and four quarterly updates to HMRC each year, with a final declaration replacing the traditional return. Payment dates are unchanged.

Questions

SIC Code Change: your questions answered

What is a SIC code?

A five-digit Standard Industrial Classification code from the UK SIC 2007 list describing a company's business activity, shown on the Companies House register. Every company must have at least one and may have up to four. Code 99999 is for dormant companies and 74990 for non-trading companies. The code does not affect what the company may legally do.

How do I change a SIC code?

Only through a confirmation statement. There is no separate form. The statement can be filed at any time, early filing does not change your review date, and the £50 Companies House fee applies each time. Our £39 fee covers selecting the correct codes and filing the statement with the change; the Companies House fee is separate.

What does it cost in total?

Our fee is £39, plus the Companies House confirmation statement fee of £50 passed on at cost, so £89 in total. The £59 package reviews and corrects the whole register in the same statement, so £109 in total. If your statement is due anyway, the SIC change is included within our standard confirmation statement with updates at £49.

Does a wrong SIC code matter?

Often more than people expect. Lenders and grant schemes use SIC codes for eligibility screening; insurers use them in underwriting; some marketplaces and payment providers check them; HMRC compares them with the accounts and VAT returns when assessing risk; and a code for an excluded sector can block an application outright. It costs little to get right.

How do I choose the right code?

From the UK SIC 2007 list, picking the code that best describes the main activity by turnover, then up to three more for other significant activities. Codes should describe what the company actually does now, not what it might do. We select them with you from the list and explain any close alternatives.

Can I have more than one code?

Yes, up to four. The first should be the primary activity. Companies with genuinely mixed activities, such as a retailer that also provides installation, should use more than one. Listing codes for activities the company does not carry on is unhelpful and can trigger the eligibility problems the change was meant to fix.

What code should a holding company or property company use?

Holding companies use 64209 (activities of other holding companies) or 70100 (activities of head offices) depending on their role. Property investment companies use 68209 (other letting and operating of own or leased real estate) and property traders 68100. These are among the most commonly wrong codes and we check them carefully.

Does changing the SIC code change my tax?

No. Corporation Tax, VAT and PAYE are determined by what the company actually does, not by its SIC code. But HMRC does look at the code when profiling risk, and a code that does not match the accounts can prompt questions. Aligning the code with the activity reduces that friction.

My company is dormant but has a trading SIC code. Should I change it?

Yes, to 99999, which signals dormancy on the register, and back to a trading code when the company starts trading. Dormant companies file a confirmation statement anyway, so the change costs nothing extra. Our dormant accounts service handles the statement and the AA02 together.

What if I am about to file my confirmation statement anyway?

Then the SIC change is simply included. Our standard confirmation statement with updates at £49 plus the Companies House fee covers SIC codes, shareholders and capital in one filing. There is no reason to pay for a separate statement if yours is due within a month or two.

Can the SIC code be changed at incorporation if the agent got it wrong?

Not retrospectively, but it can be corrected by filing a confirmation statement straight away, even days after incorporation. The £50 fee applies and the review date is not affected. We see this regularly where formation websites defaulted to a generic code.

What is the full register review?

For £59 we check every element the confirmation statement covers, officers, registered office, registered email, shareholders, capital and PSCs, against the actual position, correct what is wrong within the statement or on the separate forms required, and file. It is the best use of a statement that is being filed for a SIC change anyway.

Where

A national service

SIC Code Change is a Companies House or HMRC filing that works identically wherever your business is based, so it has one page for the whole United Kingdom rather than a page for each town. The process, the fee and the turnaround are the same for a company in Belfast, Glasgow, Cardiff or London. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland: all covered.

Related

Other services in company formation & filings

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