CAC Issues 90-day Deadline For 91,000 Dormant Firms To File Annual Tax Returns

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has given over 91,000 dormant companies a 90-day grace period to file all their outstanding annual returns or risk being delisted from its register.

These affected companies are those that have not filed annual returns for ten years.

CAC disclosed this through a statement published on its website on Wednesday.

The statement which was tagged, “Notice Of Intention To Strike Off Companies From The Register”, said that all dormant companies in the last ten years are due for delisting in line with Section 692 (3) (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 3 of 2020.

Section 692 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA) mandates the CAC to strike off the name of a defunct company from the Register of Companies.

The CAC, however, advised affected companies to file their annual returns to avoid being delisted.

An annual return is a yearly payment every registered company or Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) is required to make to the CAC irrespective of the state of its business transactions.

The statement partly reads, “This is to inform the general public that the Commission, pursuant to its powers contained in Section 692 (3) (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 3 of 2020, intends to strike off from the Register names of defunct or dormant companies that have not filed Annual Returns for a period of 10 years.

“A full list is published on the Commission’s website www.cac.gov.ng.

“These companies are given a period of 90 days from the date of this publication to file all outstanding Annual Returns and send an email of this fact to [email protected] so as to remove their names from the list.”

The CAC urged stakeholders to note that it is illegal to carry on business with the name of a company that has been delisted from the register, as such a company is deemed to be dissolved.