When Do they Accept Late Submission without Penalty for ACRA?

All private limited companies which are based in Singapore need to be compliant with Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). Annual filings are mandatory for both active and dormant companies in Singapore. Failing to adhere to these compliance requirements promptly can result in penalties. In this discussion, we will explore scenarios where a late submission might be accepted by ACRA without incurring a penalty. This ensures that all entities understand the flexibility and specific conditions under the XBRL format used for filings, which might mitigate penalties for delayed submissions.

Extension of time for filing an annual return or hold an AGM

ACRA is ready to grant a one-off extension for 2 months for a foreign company which is needed to prepare Head Office financial statements under laws of the place where it was incorporated. But such a firm doesn’t table financial statements at an annual general meeting. The company’s authorized representative of the foreign organization needs to make the application within 6 months and 30 days from its financial year-end. The online form for applying for a time extension for filing financial statements by a foreign-funded company is available in BizFile+. The application needs to be submitted prior to the deadline of annual filing. They will also need to pay an applicable fee of $200.

Under what circumstances will late filing penalties not imposed on companies?

A company can be exempted from paying late filing penalties if it lodges the appointment of its CEO (if any) in ACRA’s register. Late filing penalty won’t be imposed for organizations whose CEOs were appointed before 3 rd January 2016 but whose details have been updated between 3rd  Jan and 30th June 2016.

Penalties are imposed on companies which do not file for returns. A penalty will be imposed for late lodgement as mentioned in Companies Act, Chapter 50. In that case, summons will be issued against you. Companies can be offered an opportunity a chance to pay a compensation of $300 per breach rather than facing prosecution. A late lodgement fee will also be imposed on you during the time of lodgement for each leader who has lodged late.

In case you miss the filing deadline for Annual Return, you will be liable to pay penalties in accordance to Companies Act. You might be confused in such situations how to make an appeal to ACRA for waiving late filing penalties or composite fines. If you intend to write to ACRA for waving penalties or fines you can do so.

If you wish to make a representation to ACRA for reviewing summons issued against you (for instance to minimize the number of charges) or reduce composition sum or late filing penalty, then you will need to download a ‘’Representation Form’’ and provide a basis for your representations. You will have to make sure that supporting documents need to be attached. The complete Representation Form needs to be sent to ACRA via fax, email or post.