Companies have been given until June 30 to submit their outstanding Annual Returns to the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA).
This is in preparation for the deregistration exercise planned to take place towards the end of the year and companies that do not submit will be removed from the registry automatically by the system.
This is one of the features of the Online Registry called the Automated Compliance Program (ACP) which has not gone live yet.
The ACP allows the system to monitor companies’ compliance issues and automatically notifies them whenever they are due to file their annual returns with the Office of the Registrar of Companies.
The Registrar therefore is embarking on a mission to reach out to the genuinely operating companies to file their outstanding annual returns and bring their companies’ records up to date.
“We urge directors and company agents to take this reminder seriously.
“In the coming months we will be out on a campaign through available platforms to educate companies on this issue and also confirm dates of when the de-registration exercise will commence.
“Directors and agents of these companies should make sure outstanding annual returns are filed as soon as possible.
“We encourage companies to file online as your records will be updated automatically in particular for exempt companies,” the Registrar clarified in a statement.
Companies must submit their annual returns online as the office will be waiving the usual penalty fees of K1, 000 for any annual return which is filed online by 30 June 2017.