Annual Returns filings
The Annual Returns of a company can be defined as a yearly statement that gives essential information about a company’s activities, composition and financial position and which must be filed by every registered company/business with the appropriate authority.
In Nigeria, filing annual returns with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is a mandatory statutory requirement for every registered business, this includes Limited liability companies (private or public), sole proprietorships/Business Names and incorporated Trustees. A company’s first Annual Returns is due for filing not later than 18 months after its inception, subsequently it should be filed annually as the name implies not later than 30th June. The filing dates could differ for each company depending on their financial year end but must be filed not later than 42 days after its Annual General Meeting.
In order for a company to file its returns yearly, it needs to attach to the completed prescribed CAC Form, its statement of Affairs if it is yet to commence operations or its Audited Financial Statement where it has commenced operations. This attachment is not necessary for Sole Proprietorships/Business Names.
Filing returns annually enables the CAC to keep up to date records of registered companies which shows that a company is operative and not dormant. It is not only mandatory but also a statutory requirement for companies registered with the commission to file returns as at when due as the law empowers the CAC to strike off the name of a business from the Register of Companies where there are reasonable basis to believe the company is not in operation and the failure to file annual returns is one of the major criteria relied on by the commission to determine the status of a company.
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Efe Ugoboro
Team 618Bees
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