All registered companies require an annual return to maintain their active trading status with the Companies Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC). Failure to submit CIPC annual returns within your company's specific time frame can result in the automatic deregistration of your company, which leads to several legal ramifications.

These returns can easily fall under the radar. However, it is crucial to meet the deadline of this as not meeting this requirement will ruin your company's compliance status and cause significant administrative burdens.

Louis Meyer Secretarial has years of experience in providing professional company secretarial services. We have extensive knowledge of the rules and regulations governing the CIPC and can ensure your company's compliance. Our expertise allows us to act on your company's behalf to ensure your annual returns are completed accurately and submitted in time.

Filing for an annual return

Should you fail to submit your company's annual return, non-compliance will be automatically declared after 30 business days. Once this time has passed, your company will be declared inactive, and deregistration will commence.

Incorrect completion of CIPC annual returns will impact your business in the following ways:

• Miscalculations of the annual turnover or providing incorrect information is in direct contravention of The Companies Act of 2008. This can lead to a fine or imprisonment.
• The CIPC is free to conduct investigations of your company to determine its compliance status. This is to better determine the severity of the matter at hand and can result in a compliance notice or referral to the National Prosecuting Authority.
• Compliance notices that are not met will result in a fine or a notice of winding up with grounds on fraudulent behaviour.

The Louis Meyer Secretarial difference

Maintaining compliance with the CIPC ensures space for future business growth. This makes the consequences of failing to submit your company's annual return to the CIPC overshadow the short term administrative effort.

Despite this, we understand the difficulty of compiling all the necessary information required for this return and ensuring its accuracy. Our dedicated team offers secretarial services to assist your business in meeting these deadlines – hassle-free!