The Registrar-General’s Department has called on business owners, companies and partnerships to file their annual returns and update their records for the year 2016.

A statement signed by Mrs Jemima M. Oware, the acting Registrar-General and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Friday said companies, partnerships and business are to utilize this opportunity offered them by department to file their annual returns.

The filings are expected to be paid at the Department’s offices in Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale as well as online at www.rgd.gov.gh or www.rgdeservices.com as the department plans full enforcement of the penalty regime from Wednesday, February 1, next year.

The statement said: “Companies and partnerships who have not yet updated their records as well as filed their annual returns would have to pay a penalty of GH₵ 300.00 for each month that the company or partnership is in default in addition to the statutory fees for which they are required to pay.”

It further stated that the Department extended the deadline for penalty regime from October 3 this to January 31 next year so as to ensure that businesses, companies, partnerships fulfilled their obligations to the state.

The statement mentioned that the filing of annual returns was mandatory as stated in section 122 (1&2) of the Companies Act, 1963, (Act 179), “that a company shall file its annual returns 18 months after incorporation and once, at least in every year thereafter.

“Under section 6(1) of the Incorporated Private Partnership Act, 1962, once every year the Partners shall deliver to the Registrar for registration a statement in the prescribed form renewing the registration”

Mrs Oware said although notices were published in both electronic and print media for companies and partnerships to file their annual returns, many more were yet to do so, while some have complied.

Meanwhile, the statement warned that business names of sole proprietors would be rendered inactive in the Department’s database from February 1, next year after failure to renew their businesses.

“When this happens, sole proprietors/business names would not be able to make any changes or update any records on their business names in that inactive state.”

In order to be restored into our electronic database, sole proprietors/business names would have to pay for the number of years they have not renewed up to date”