Over 60,000 companies face de-registration
Pauline Dikuelo | Friday March 11, 2016 13:56
The owed funds include a P300 annual subscription fee for the 60, 000 companies and a P900 penalty charged each year on every company that fails to submit annual returns. According to CIPA Awareness and Communications Manager, Marietta Magashula they have decided to take action against companies that have been failing to comply for the past five years by giving them up until April 6 this year to submit their returns, fees and penalties.
“Just over 60, 000 companies are on the list for possible de-registration. The Companies Act, which prescribes that all registered companies, should submit annual returns to CIPA with a fee of P300 after holding an AGM every year. Some companies have not been adhering to this, hence the reason we opted to remove them if they fail to meet the deadline,” she added.
According to Magashula, the purpose of the annual return is to ensure that records of the company at CIPA are kept upto date. This information includes details of shareholdings, directors and any other changes that may have occurred in the company during the year.
This week, CIPA issued out a public notice which read: “CIPA wishes to inform members of the public of the intention to de-register 60, 000 companies for non-compliance on submission of annual returns. The Companies Act provides that all registered companies must submit an annual return with a fee of P300 to CIPA within 28 days of holding the Annual General Meeting (AGM).”
Magashula urged companies that had not been complying to come and pay before the deadline to avoid de-registration. “Going forward, we advise those who have registered companies but have not started operating to apply for dormancy at our offices. This will freeze the annual return submissions until the company is operational,” she said.