Companies defy annual returns deadline
Pauline Dikuelo | Friday July 8, 2016 15:35
Earlier this year, CIPA announced they had decided to take action against companies that have been failing to comply for the past five years by giving them until April to submit their annual fees and penalties.
In an interview with BusinessWeek on Wednesday, CIPA Awareness and Communications Manager Marietta Magashula said from the 60,000 companies that were notified of their default only 500 approached CIPA to rectify the issue.
“Only 500 companies came forward to pay, and some have been calling and assuring that they are coming hence the reason why we decided to give them another extension of two weeks. This is a final warning as failure to comply with this will result in some companies being de-registered,” she added.
The owed funds include a P300 annual subscription fee, P900 penalty charged each year on every company that fails to submit 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 said even some of the companies that have not operated since registration will be de-registered as well. She also advised those who have registered companies, but have not started to operate to apply for dormancy at their offices which will freeze the annual return submissions until the company is operational.
She said that the purpose of the annual return is to ensure that records of the company at CIPA are kept up to date. This information includes details of shareholdings, directors and any changes that may have occurred in the company during the year.
“Some companies have not been adhering to this hence the reason we opted to remove them from the system if they fail to meet the deadline,” she added.