In situations where the company believes that there are extenuating circumstances which resulted in it missing its accounts filing deadline, it can appeal against the late filing fee.
Whilst the appeals facility is available to all companies, the successful withdrawal of a penalty is only likely to be granted in rare and special cases.
Such special circumstances might include an act of god which significantly affected the company’s ability to meet the stated submission timetable. Factors surrounding a personal bereavement might also be considered as a valid reason.
The Registrar of Companies will use its discretion is deciding the relevance and affect of each factor in a particular case.
Some events which will not be considered as significant to successfully apeal against a late filing fee would include, but is not limited to some of the following:
- Lack of personnel to facilitate the timely preparation and submission of the accounts by the due date.
- The fact that there was no trade for a dormant company throughout the Accounting period.
- Accounts which were submitted on time but were not accepted because they were in an incorrect format.
- Lack of knowledge concerning the need to submit the accounts by the due date.
- Inaction by the company’s agent or professional advisers to arrange the preparation and submission.
- Delays caused by industrial action of others who were used to facilitate the delivery.
