Hi

From autumn 2024, Companies House online services will begin moving to the new government One Login service.

Businesses using Companies House online services will have to use gov.uk One Login, the government’s new single sign-in service, instead of the current Government Gateway process. One Login service will eventually replace Government Gateway accounts as a single identity check and login system to access all central government services.

The government announcement stated that the changes will be introduced in two testing phases, 

• Private beta – a small group of users of the “Find and update company information service” will be invited to sign in using gov.uk One Login.
• Public beta – all users of the “Find and update” company information service will have the option to use gov.uk One Login to sign in.

Once public beta testing is complete, every user signing into the Find and update company information service will need to use gov.uk One Login.

In its announcement, the government stated that the Companies House WebFiling service will move to gov.uk One Login at a later date, with users given “plenty of notice” before the change happens.

Under the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, anyone setting up, running, owning or controlling a company in the UK will need to verify their identity to prove they are who they claim to be.

Once this requirement is fully introduced (no timeline has been set for this as of yet), users will be able to use gov.uk One Login to verify their identity directly with Companies House.

HMRC is one of the first government departments to adopt the digital sign-in scheme, with the eventual goal of all taxpayers, companies and agents accessing its services through One Login. 

Those with business or other organisational credentials are likely to migrate to the new system in 2025, while no timescale has been announced for those acting on behalf of others, such as tax agents or those with power of attorney.

Noel Guilford