By Leonora Asare
Accra, July 03, GNA – The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) has extended the deadline for the filing of annual returns and renewals to September 30, 2023.
It said the extension would enable companies and businesses in default to complete the processes for the filing of the annual returns and renewals, which they could not complete due to the downtimes experienced by the Office’s software applications system throughout the period.
A press release issued by the ORC, signed by Mrs Jemma Mamaa Oware, the Registrar of Companies, said the deadline applied to business names, companies limited by shares, companies limited by guarantee (churches, schools, Non -Government Organizations) and civil society organizations.
The rest are foundations, associations, unions, societies, external companies, partnerships, and professional bodies.
The release noted that, as of June 30, 2023, companies and businesses registered by the ORC since 2011, and those that had complied by filing their annual returns and renewals and in good standing were not encouraging.
Out of the 220,214 companies limited by shares registered, only 46,704 were in good standing, and only 19,074 companies limited by guarantee were in good standing within the period under review, the release stated.
On external companies, a total of 438 were in good standing out of the 1,379 registered, with 752 partnerships in good standing, and 235,481 out of 721,817 sole proprietorships in good standing.
The ORC said it would commence the process of striking off businesses and companies in default from the Register by the end of September 2023.
Section 5A (2) of the Registration of Business Names Act,1962 (Act 151) empowers the Registrar of Companies to remove from the Register any business Name and subsidiary Business Name in default for a period of three months after the year has ended.
The Office urged companies to make good use of the extension to prepare all the necessary documents and file their annual returns on time.
The release said that would help to avoid paying administration penalties or push their companies into a status of not being in good standing.
GNA