People with Significant Control (PSC) and the Confirmation Statement Explained

A Person with Significant Control is anyone who owns more than 25% of your company's shares or voting rights, or who otherwise controls how it's run. Every UK limited company has to keep a PSC register and report this information through its annual Confirmation Statement. Here's what's actually required, and what's changed recently.

Key Takeaways

• A PSC is generally anyone with more than 25% ownership, voting rights, or effective control over your company.
• Your PSC register needs specific details for each PSC, and this information feeds into your annual Confirmation Statement.
• Since November 2025, directors and PSCs must also verify their identity with Companies House, a new legal requirement under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.
• The Confirmation Statement filing fee rose to £50 for digital filing (£110 for paper) from February 2026.
• Failing to keep a PSC register or file your Confirmation Statement is a criminal offence, and can lead to fines or your company being struck off.

Who Counts as a Person with Significant Control?

A PSC is anyone who meets at least one of five conditions relating to ownership or control of your company. The most common trigger is simply owning more than a quarter of the shares.

Under UK law, someone is a PSC if they:

• Own more than 25% of the company's shares
• Hold more than 25% of the company's voting rights
• Hold the right to appoint or remove the majority of directors
• Have the right to exercise, or actually exercise, significant influence or control over the company
• Have significant influence or control over a trust or firm that itself meets any of the first four conditions

What Has to Be on the PSC Register?

Your PSC register needs a specific set of details for every individual PSC, and a different set if the PSC is itself a company. Missing or incomplete entries can cause problems when you come to file your Confirmation Statement.

For an individual PSC, you need:

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Service address
• Residential address, which isn't shown on the public register
• Country of residence and nationality
• The date they became a PSC
• The nature of their control, for example holding more than 50% but not more than 75% of shares

If the PSC is a company rather than an individual, you need its company name, registered office, company number, legal form, governing law, and the date and nature of its control.

How the Confirmation Statement Works

The Confirmation Statement is an annual filing that confirms your company's core details, including your PSC information, are accurate and up to date. It replaced the old Annual Return, and it's due once every 12 months, on a date tied to your company's incorporation or last filing.

You can file more than once a year if your details change, at no extra cost beyond your annual filing fee. As of February 2026, that fee is £50 for digital filing or £110 for paper filing, both up from the previous £34 flat rate. Filing on time, and correctly, matters more now than it used to, given the identity verification requirement that sits alongside it.

What's Changed: Identity Verification for Directors and PSCs

Since 18 November 2025, directors and PSCs have had to verify their identity with Companies House, a new requirement under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. This is a genuinely significant change from how things worked before, and it's easy to miss if you haven't filed a Confirmation Statement recently.

New directors and PSCs appointed from that date onward must verify their identity before the appointment can be registered. Existing directors and PSCs have a transition window tied to their company's next Confirmation Statement, with a final backstop deadline of 18 November 2026 for anyone who hasn't verified by then. Verification is done either through GOV.UK One Login or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, and it results in a personal code that gets quoted on future filings.

This matters for PSCs specifically because verification is separate from, and in addition to, the existing PSC register requirements above. Holding a directorship or PSC role across several companies only requires verifying once, but the deadline and process still need to be actioned properly. Our identity verification service for directors and PSCs can help if you'd rather not navigate the process alone.

What Happens if You Don't Comply?

Failing to keep a PSC register, or failing to file your Confirmation Statement, is a criminal offence. Directors who don't comply can face fines, and in serious or persistent cases, the company can be struck off the register entirely.

With identity verification now layered on top, non-compliance has more moving parts than it used to. It's worth checking your company's specific deadlines rather than assuming the old rules still cover everything.

Why These Rules Exist

These requirements exist to increase transparency around who actually owns and runs UK companies, and to make it harder to use companies for money laundering or other financial crime. The PSC register itself dates back to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, and the newer identity verification rules build directly on that same goal under the 2023 Act.

Getting Help Staying Compliant

If you'd rather not track PSC filings, Confirmation Statement deadlines, and identity verification separately, we offer support across all three. Our PSC register service and Confirmation Statement filing service can help keep your company compliant without you having to track every deadline yourself.

If you're setting up a company as a non-UK resident, our guide to forming a UK company from abroad covers how PSC and director requirements apply to you specifically. And if you're wondering what details you need to provide as a director, our guide to the director's residential address is worth a read too.

FAQs

Who counts as a Person with Significant Control?

Broadly, anyone who owns more than 25% of your company's shares or voting rights, can appoint or remove the majority of directors, or otherwise has significant influence over how the company runs.

Do I need to verify my identity as a PSC?

Yes. Since 18 November 2025, directors and PSCs must verify their identity with Companies House, with existing officeholders required to do so by their company's next Confirmation Statement, or 18 November 2026 at the latest.

How much does it cost to file a Confirmation Statement?

As of February 2026, it's £50 for digital filing or £110 for paper filing, up from the previous flat rate of £34.

What happens if I don't file a Confirmation Statement?

It's a criminal offence. Directors can face fines, and companies that persistently fail to comply risk being struck off the register.

Can I file a Confirmation Statement more than once a year?

Yes, and there's no extra fee for filing again within the same 12-month period if your details change.

Do I need to verify my identity separately for each company I'm a director of?

No. Once you've verified your identity, the resulting personal code applies across every company where you hold a director or PSC role.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. PSC rules, identity verification deadlines, and Companies House fees can change, so it's worth checking current guidance on GOV.UK or Companies House, or speaking to a qualified professional, before relying on the details above.