The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has announced that companies now have until April 1, 2024, to submit their annual returns.
This extension was granted due to technical issues with the company’s registration portal (CRP) and to accommodate the Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME) sector.
The CAC had previously stated their plan to remove 91,843 companies from their website for failing to submit their annual returns.
The commission has stated that companies that were supposed to submit their penalties by January 1, 2023, are now exempt from paying them.
This is because the deadline for submission has been extended to April 1, 2024. The commission is encouraging companies to use this extension to submit their annual returns.
“Further to its earlier notice on Thursday, November 2, 2023, informing the General Public that it shall commence the full application of the penalties prescribed by the Companies and Allied Matters Acts 2020 and the Companies Registrations 2021 against Companies and each of their Directors or Officers for failures to file annual returns, the Commission hereby extends the commencement date from January 1, 2024, to April 1, 2024.
“This extension has become necessary given the glitches presently experienced on the Company Registration Portal (CRP) and in deference to the appeals from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.
“All entities registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships, Limited Partnerships, Business Names, and Incorporated Trustees) are encouraged to take advantage of the window provided by this extension to file their annual returns to date with the Commission,” the circular reads.
Meanwhile, CAC stated that the deadline does not apply to those whose penalty procedures began before the initial notification was sent.
“The General Public should please note that this extension of time does not affect the striking-off proceedings commenced by the Commission before the publication of Thursday, November 2, 2023,” it added.
Earlier this month, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) announced that it would delist 91,843 entities from its registry for failing to file annual filings with it.
The commission offered the names of 91,843 firms for delisting in a list published on its website.
This was 2,738 fewer than the initial 94,581 company names provided in August.
It is also less than the initial 100,000 entities that CAC stated it would eliminate in a June announcement.
