MCA amends strike-off rules – Mandatory filing of overdue Financial Statements, before striking-off of companies

by | posted in: Company Incorporations, e-filing of MCA Returns, Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs | 0
Strike Off of Companies
A company cannot file a strike-off application unless it has filed overdue financial statements and overdue annual returns.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has notified an amendment to the Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2016.

The amendment provides more clarity on the filing requirements of overdue financials before applying for strike-off.

As per the amended norms, a company cannot file a strike-off application unless it has filed overdue financial statements under section 137 and overdue annual returns under section 92, up to the end of the financial year in which the company ceased to carry out its business operations.

Previously, the MCA had removed the requirement for up-to-date financial results and annual returns, vide the amendment introducing the Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit.

However, this requirement has now been reintroduced. The present amendment shall be effective from 10.05.2023.

Annual Filing (i.e. AOC-4 and MGT-7) is required to be filed before applying for Strike off.

As per the amendment made in rule 4 in May 2019 and amendment made on May 2023 “no application in Form No. STK-2 shall be filed by a company unless it has filed overdue returns in Form No. AOC-4 (Financial Statement) or AOC-4 XBRL, as the case may be, and Form No. MGT-7 (Annual Return), up to the end of the financial year in which the company ceased to carry its business operations”

Therefore, after amendment in Rule 4 w.e.f. 08th May, 2019 read with notification dated 10th May 2023, annual filing of AOC-4 and MGT-7 is mandatory up to the end of the financial year in which the company ceased to carry its business operations. In other words, Company is required to file AOC-4 and MGT-7 up to financial year till company carries its business and operations.

MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 10th May, 2023

G.S.R. 354(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1), (2) and (4) of section 248 read with section 469 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2016, namely:-

  1. Short title and commencement.- (1) These rules may be called the Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Second Amendment Rules, 2023.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

  1. In the Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2016 (hereafter referred to as the principal rules), in rule 4, in sub-rule (1), the following provisos shall be inserted, namely: –

“Provided that the company shall not file an application unless it has filed overdue financial statements under section 137 and overdue annual returns under section 92, up to the end of the financial year in which the company ceased to carry its business operations:

Provided further that in case a company intends to file the application after the action under subsection (1) of section 248 has been initiated by the Registrar, it shall file all pending financial statements under section 137 and all pending annual returns under section 92, before filing the application:

Provided also that once notice under sub-section (5) of section 248 has been issued by the Registrar for publication pursuant to the action initiated under sub-section (1) of section 248, a company shall not be allowed to file the application under this sub-rule.”.

[F. No. 1/28/2013-CL-V(Part-III)]

MANOJ PANDEY, Jt. Secy.

Note: The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3 of Subsection (i), vide number G.S.R. 1174(E), dated the 26th December, 2016 and amended, vide Notification numbers G.S.R 355(E), dated the 12th April, 2017, G.S.R 350(E), dated the 8th May, 2019, G.S.R 420(E), dated the 29th June, 2020, G.S.R. 436(E), dated the 9th June, 2022 G.S.R. 658(E), dated the 24th August, 2022 and G.S.R. 298(E), dated 17th April, 2023.

MCA further extends due date of filing Annual Return and Financial Statement till March 15.

by | posted in: Company Incorporations, e-filing of MCA Returns, Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs | 0
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has again extended the due date of filing Annual Return and Financial Statement.

The MCA has again relaxed the levy of additional fees for filing of e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4, AOC-4 XBRL AOC-4 Non-XBRL till 15.03.2022 and for filing of  e-forms MGT-7/MGT-7A for the financial year ended on 31.03.2021 till 31.03.2022.

MGT-7 is an electronic form provided by the Ministry of Corporate affairs to all the corporates in order to fill their annual return details. This e-form is maintained by the Registrar of Companies via electronic mode and on the basis of the statement of correctness given by the company.

Form AOC 4 is used to file the financial statements for each financial year with the Registrar of Companies (ROC). In the case of consolidated financial statements, the company shall file the AOC 4.

Keeping in view the extension of timelines for audit/ tax audit and finalization of accounts under the Income Tax Act, 1961, this extension was very much required to synchronize with the inter-connected chain of events.

Accordingly, the ROC annual return due date for FY 2020-21 stands extended for companies, without payment of additional fee, as under:

i) AOC-4, AOC-4 CFS, AOC-4 XBRL, AOC-4 Non-XBRL: upto 15/03/2022

ii) MGT-7 and MGT-7A: upto 31/03/2022

MCA Extends Due Dates for e-forms AOC-4/ 4(CFS)/ 4(XBRL), 4(Non-XBRL), MGT-7/ 7A

MCA grants extension of time for filing Financial Statements & Annual Return for 2020-21

by | posted in: Company Incorporations, e-filing of MCA Returns, Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs | 0
MCA grants extension of time for filing Annual Financial Statements (AOC-4) and Annual Returns (MGT-7) without additional fees.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has recently granted the much-needed relief by extending the dates for filing of the 5 important e-forms with the removal of additional fees on the e-forms, namely Forms Annual Financial Statements -AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4, AOC-4 XBRL AOC-4 Non-XBRL, and Annual Returns -MGT -7 / MGT -7A, filing to the Financial Year ended 31st March 2021 under the Companies Act 2013.

 

The extended due dates for filing of e-forms such as AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4 XBRL, AOC-4 Non-XBRL are 15th February 2022 and for filing of e-forms such as MGT-7, and MGT-7A are 28th February 2022, for all stakeholders, without any additional fees.

The extension of due dates has been done as per the demand of the stakeholders for the filing of financial statements for the financial year ended 31.03.2021.

Source: MCA General Circular No 22/2021

Companies get relaxation for Annual Filings of 2019-20 upto 15/02/2021 without additional fees.

by | posted in: Company Incorporations, e-filing of MCA Returns, Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs | 0

MCA relaxes levy of additional fees in filing of e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4 XBRL and AOC-4 Non-XBRL for the financial year ended on 31.03.2020 under the Companies Act, 2013

Keeping in view of various requests received from stakeholders regarding relaxation on levy of additional fees for annual financial statement filings required to be done for the financial year ended on 31.03.2020, it has been decided that no additional fees shall be levied upto 15.02.2021 for the filing of e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4 XBRL and AQC-4 Non-XBRL in respect of the financial year ended on 31.03.2020.

During the said period, only normal fees shall be payable for the filing of the aforementioned e-forms.

Earlier, the Annual General Meeting for adoption of the Audited Financial Statements, Directors Report and Auditors’ Report was extended by 3 months from September 30 to December 30, 2020.

Accordingly, the companies were required file Audited Financial Statements before January 31st, 2021.

This has now been further relaxed for another 15 days up to February 15, 2021, for filing of the eForms with Ministry of Corporate affairs (MCA).

Read the MCA Circular for waiver of Additional Fees

SEBI extends deadline for filing April-June corporate financial results to September 15

by | posted in: Accounting Standards, Audit, Due Diligence, Company Incorporations, e-filing of MCA Returns, Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs | 0

In a major relief to companies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) today extended the deadline for submission of financial results for the quarter, half-year, and financial year ended 30 June 2020 to September 15. The SEBI circular said that it has received representations requesting an extension of time for submission of financial results for the quarter or half year-ended 30 June 2020, due to the shortened time gap between the extended deadline for submission of financial results for the period-ended 31 March 2020 and the quarter or half year-ended June 30, 2020.

Under Regulation 33 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (‘LODR Regulations’), a listed entity is required to submit its quarterly, half-yearly, or annual financial results within 45 days or 60 days, as applicable, from the end of each quarter, half year, or financial year.

Accordingly, listed entities were required to submit the financial results for the quarter, half-year-ended 30 June 2020 on or before 14 August 2020.

Earlier, the regulatory body had also extended the timeline for submission of financial results by listed entities for the quarter, half-year, or financial year-ended 31 March 2020 to 31 July 2020, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

SEBI further said that today’s announcement shall come into force with immediate effect and advised all stock exchanges to bring the provisions of this circular to the notice of all listed entities.

It has asked the stock exchanges to bring the provisions of the circular to the notice of all listed entities and also disseminate on their websites.

Meanwhile, SEBI’s move to relax the deadlines is expected to give more time to companies already struggling with operations part amid the pandemic.

In-line with the efforts to provide relief to the sagging businesses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier announced to decriminalise some offences under the Companies Act.

The SEBI has also introduced new norms to give more fund-raising flexibility to stressed firms.

The amendments can help promoters get financial investors on board without losing control of the company.

SEBI signs MoU with CBDT for Data Exchange

by | posted in: Company Incorporations, e-filing of MCA Returns, Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs, Income Tax,e-Filing- Individuals, Firms, Companies | 0
“There is a need to create a regulator or authority for data business, which provides centralized regulation for all non-personal data exchanges,” the government-appointed panel said in the report. Such a regulator would be armed with legal powers to request data, supervise data sharing requests and settle disputes“.
A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today between the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for data exchange between the two organizations.
 
The MoU was signed by Smt. Anu J. Singh, Pr. DGIT (Systems), CBDT, and Smt. MadhabiPuri Buch, Whole Time Member, SEBI in the presence of senior officers from both the organizations via video conference.

The MoU will facilitate the sharing of data and information between SEBI and CBDT on an automatic and regular basis.

In addition to regular exchange of data, CBDT and SEBI will also exchange with each other, on request and suo moto basis, any information available in their respective databases, for the purpose of carrying out scrutiny, inspection, investigation and prosecution,” SEBI said in a statement.

In addition to regular exchange of data, SEBI and CBDT will also exchange with each other, on request and Suo moto basis, any information available in their respective databases, for the purpose of carrying out their functions under various laws.

The MoU comes into force from the date it was signed and is an ongoing initiative of CBDT and SEBI, who are already collaborating through various existing mechanisms.

A Data Exchange Steering Group has also been constituted for the initiative, which will meet periodically to review the data exchange status and take steps to further improve the effectiveness of the data-sharing mechanism.

The MoU marks the beginning of a new era of cooperation and synergy between SEBI and CBDT.

In the past, SEBI has cracked on several entities who had manipulated the stock prices of listed companies. The regulator had observed in the penny stock scam that promoters and market operators were using the stock exchange platform to evade taxes and launder black money.

Read the Press Release: SEBI signs MOU with CBDT for Data Exchange

ICAI enables generation of Bulk UDINs for Certificates

by | posted in: Accounting Standards, Audit, Due Diligence, Company Incorporations, e-filing of MCA Returns, Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs, Income Tax,e-Filing- Individuals, Firms, Companies | 0

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India enable generation of UDIN (Unique Document Identification Number) for certification by its members

A provision for generating UDIN in bulk for Certificates has been incorporated in UDIN Portal.

Using this facility now the members will be able to generate UDIN in bulk (uptil 300 UDINs) for various types of Certificates in one go. It can be done through uploading of excel file.

Process for bulk UDIN

Step-wise complete process for generating bulk UDINs is as under:

i) After login, from the Menu bar, click on Bulk UDIN for Certificates. Minimum 3 certificates and Maximum 300 certificates can be generated using this procedure.

ii) Download template file from Download Template button and open in Excel. Please note that the .xlsx file can be opened in Excel 2007 and later versions.

iii) Select Certificate type from drop down.

iv) Input dates in the format as per your system/computer (generally it is in mm/dd/yyyy or as 10 June 2020). Excel will format dates automatically in required format i.e dd-mm-yyyy. Do not use copy paste in this cell.

v) Fill in all the parameters and values.

vi) Save the file.

vii) Click on the upload file on the Certificate Form on UDIN Portal.

viii) Select the file just saved now.

ix) Portal will populate the data in the Form. Verify the data so populated.

x) If correct, Send and Verify OTP and Submit.

xi) Alternatively, the option of filling the details of Type of Certificates, Dates and key fields etc. is available on the form itself.

Read More: ICAI Notification