IPA freezes de-registration move

THE Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) has put on hold the de-registration of companies failing to file annual returns due to a system breakdown.
In a statement, the authority advised company directors and their agents that the switch-on of the automated compliance programme had also been delayed.
The authority had issued a notice to companies to submit their annual returns by July 20 last year.
But it said due to “constant system failures in 2017, which were beyond IPA’s control, the registrar of companies has experienced setbacks relating to record maintenance and the turnaround time of some of the services”.
“This in particular has affected the processes of filing and processing of annual returns through the online registry system which in turn has affected the targeted dates for the above exercises,”the authority said.
“To hasten the turnaround time of processing annual returns, the Investment Promotion Authority has further waived the late penalty of K1000 for annual returns effective as of Friday January 5, 2018, until Friday January 19, 2018.
“This applies only to online filing of annual returns as companies affected by the system errors can re-file their annual returns with ease.
“Companies which have not yet filed their outstanding annual returns can also take advantage of the waiver and file them as soon as possible. Only the prescribed fee of K250 will be applicable.
“Please note that the late penalty fee of K1000 for annual returns filed via paper forms or a Form 22 is still payable as there are no issues with paper filing.”