Chapter 16 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA 2020), covers everything pertaining to filing returns.
Section 418 of CAMA 2020 states:
The annual return by a company having shares other than a small company shall contain with respect to the registered office of the company, registers of members and debenture holders, shares and debentures, indebtedness, past and present members, directors and secretary, the matters specified in Part I of the Seventh Schedule to this Act, and the return shall be in the form set out in Part II of that Schedule or as near to it as circumstances admit.
The provision is made for a company to prove to the regulatory commission that the company is still active in business.
Failure to file a company’s return over a period of years may attract sanctions, which includes delisting of your company.
On 28th July, 2023, the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, Garba Abubakar disclosed the plans of the commission to delist over 100,000 (hundred thousand) companies over failure to file annual returns for over 10 years.
He said: CAC steps up enforcement of 100,000 companies to go off its register for failure to file an annual return.”
He further explained that the companies will be relisted once they file their annual returns with accrued fines, or by order of court of law as provided by the CAMA 2020.
How to Find out If a Company is Still Active
To know if a company active and its record is up to date in CAC database, follow the following steps:
Visit CAC’s website
Click on Public Search
Enter the company’s Name, or RC number or BN number and click search.
The company’s record will show, if it’s active. The information that will display in the record include the company’s name, years of incorporation, address, status (active or inactive).
Company Annual Returns Filling Fees
Some companies especially the small businesses and sole proprietorship think that they may be charged based on their income or may be taxed heavily if they continue to file their annual returns to the Corporate Affairs Commission. Filing of companies annual returns has fixed charge according to business class, which can only change through law from the parliament. And tax return filing is done with the Federal Inland Revenue Services, FRSC.
Bellow are Companies Annual Returns Filling Fees:
Limited Liability Company: N5,000
Business Name: N3,500
Late Payment Fine
Limited Liability Company: N5,000
Business Name: N5,000
When a company defaults in filing its annual returns, the company shall pay additional N5,000 per annum, and this will accumulate over the number of years the company defaulted.
For instance, if a company fails to comply CAMA by defaulting in filing its return for 1 years, it shall pay N5000 + N5000 = N10,000 as Limited Liability Company, or N3500 + N5000 = N8500 as Business Name.
Requirements for Filing Annual Returns
A photocopy of your Business Certificate
A copy of the Company’s CAC Form 7
A photocopy of your company’s Memorandum of Association
Due digitalization of CAC activities applicants no long have to download VAC Form 10 or obtain it from any state office of the commission for assessment. Everything is now done at the Commission’s e-platform. Although, you can still go to any of the CAC’s office for filing.