TheNewsGuru

Tag: CAC

  • CAC delists 44,000 companies, registers additional 1.5m

    No fewer than 44,000 companies have been delisted from the database of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

    The commission has also registered over 1.5 million companies.

    Registrar General of the CAC, Bello Mahmud, said this in a chat with the Economic Confidential in Abuja.

    He said the development was sequel to several breaches of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and other extant regulations of the commission, notably, late and outright refusal to file returns.

    “So far there is an improvement and a current ratio of 45 per cent. We are still checking on company records, especially in terms of compliance for those who have not been filing.

    “If we discover you are not a going concern, the law establishing us gives us the power to delist from our database.

    “If we discover and write you first, second and third letter without reply, we now deem it that you are not a going concern and we delist you from our database.

    “So far, the first batch we delisted were about nine thousand (9000) And in the second batch about thirty-five (35,000) totalling 44,000 firms delisted from our database and is still ongoing”, he said.

  • CAC staff suspend strike, resume official duties

    The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on Thursday resumed official business activities as its staff union called off the weeklong strike over nonpayment of entitlements by the management.

    The offices of the commission at its corporate headquarters, Abuja, officially opened for customers and staff to carry out daily business transactions.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that aside official duties, commercial and private businesses by food vendors and hawkers adjacent to the building, also resumed fully.

    A cross section of the vendors said they were excited that the union and management had reached an agreement, adding that their businesses could now flourish.

    Mrs Roseline Okoye, said ” I used to make more than N10,000 a day but since the strike started, I didn’t even sell up to N400 because there were no customers to patronise our services”.

    Mr John Martins, commercial photocopy operator, said that the strike had caused him a lot of losses.

    ” You can imagine since the strike started I sometimes cannot make my transport fee back home because there were no customers.

    Mr Samuel Ebenezer, a photographer, expressed gladness over the resumption of work.

    ” You can see customers are here to take passport photographs.

    ” This shows that I will go back home smiling. It has not been easy since the strike started.

    Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, a member of CAC staff, said “staying at home doing nothing was not easy for me”.

    Mrs Ruth Balogun said ” I pray for positive changes as the union and management work together”.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) CAC Chapter, embarked on a warning strike over alleged non-payment of salary arrears on July 17.

    During the dispute, the union blocked the premises of the commission, preventing its top management staff from accessing their offices.

    The strike was called off on the order of the National Industrial Arbitration Court, Abuja, on July 26.

    The court ordered AUCPTRE to unblock the premises, to allow staff and business activities to resume.

    The strike, which started on July 17, lasted for eight working days.

    The Chairman, Staff Union CAC, Mr Ibrahim Kirfi, confirmed that the strike had been called off.

    The commission’s spokesperson, Mr Godfrey Ike, said the strike had been called off and staff were now in their offices working.

    ” We want to take the past behind us and move forward,” Ike said.

  • CAC staff shut down business activities over salary arrears

    The Amalgamation Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreation Service Employees (AUPTRE) Corporate Affairs Commission’s branch, on Monday afternoon, shut down the Commission’s office in Abuja, due to non-implementation of an agreement which was reached between the Union and the Federal government in 2013.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that In February 2017, the Union embarked on three days warning strike, a development which pushed the management of CAC to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the union to speed up the implementation of the agreement.

    A member of the staff of the Commission who spoke under the condition anonymity told newsmen the Union got tired of waiting as there is nothing on ground to show that the agreement will be implemented anytime soon.

    Although the Head of Corporate Commission of CAC, Godfrey Ike, said the delay in the implemented of the agreement is caused by the absence of a governing board for the Commission and also the delay in approval signal from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.

    Ike said the management had been having series of meetings with the hope that the crisis will be resolved as quickly as possible.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that at the three days warning strike in February, the commission Union Chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Kirfi, stated that the strike action has commenced and the Union has locked the CAC gate thereby blocking customers, staffs, and other people from entering or coming out of the premises.

    Kirfi lamented that, “the management has failed to implement the content of this agreement and has not shown any intention to do so. The long period of the non- implementation of the agreement for this long hiding under the pretext of unnecessary bureaucracy, management had in other different ways, continued to deprive staff of their right full entitlements while in the very eyes of these staff monies are spent on so many things unwarranted expenditure

    According to the Chairman, “the last straw that broke the camel’s back and precipitated this strike action was the total refusal to attend to our demand after series of negotiations and consultations with management that later led to an issuance of a 7 day notice and another 14day notice of an industrial strike commencing 15th February 2017.

    He noted that, “It is pertinent to state at this juncture that having examined the spending pattern of the commission, it is expedient to re-present our demands. They are implementation of the tripartite agreement especially with regards to the salary disparity between executive and non-executive staff.

    The Union Chairman explained that after an emergency general staff meeting, the union got the endorsement of the entire staff, and a strike action was declared effective from the 15th of February, 2017.

    Other reasons raised by the Union for their strike action includes payment arrears of 9 % increase from January 2014, payment of staff housing, suspension of all foreign trips by the Executive until staff entitlements are settled and prioritizing the Commission’s expenditures on critical needs.

    As of the time of filing this report, there is no date in view when the Commission’s office will reopen for business.

  • FIRS introduces six online tax solutions

    FIRS introduces six online tax solutions

    The Federal Inland Revenue Service has introduced six key electronic solutions (e-Services) to enhance convenience, transparency and round the clock processing and payment of taxes.

    Some of the e-Services, which could now be accessed online, are taxpayer registration (through e-Registration); payment of Stamp Duties (through e-Stamp Duty); payment of taxes (through online payment: e-TaxPay, Remita); receiving of electronic receipt after payment of taxes (through e-Receipt); filing tax returns online (through e-filing); and online Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC) through electronic Tax Clearance Certificate (e-TCC solution).

    The Chairman of the FIRS, Tunde Fowler, who explained this in Abuja, said the e-Services innovation represent “a revolution in tax administration in Nigeria”.

    Fowler said: “The idea behind the six ICT solutions is to make tax payment as easy as ABC, to bring convenience to our taxpayers. The ICT solutions which we are bringing to the doorsteps of taxpayers will ensure that taxpayers could pay, get receipt, and get TCC, from the comfort of their homes and offices anytime, anywhere in the world and round the clock. This saves the time of taxpayers, is transparent, fast, easy to use and convenient.”

    The implication of e-Receipt, for example, is that when tax payments are made, an electronic notification will be automatically sent to the taxpayer’s email and or phone number within 24 hours after payment.

    If for any reason a taxpayer loses the print out, they can access FIRS e-Receipt platform by log in into the FIRS website and download their receipt.

    This process eliminates manual interventions.

    The e-TCC provides an e-repository of all Tax Clearance Certificates (TCCs) issued by FIRS.

    It enables FIRS Staff and authorised third parties to obtain their TCC online without visiting a tax office.

    E-TCC reduces incidence of fraudulent certificates. E-TCCs are automatically sent to the emails of taxpayers.

    Taxpayers can also request for and print their TCCs online.

    Although hard copies will still be available for collection, a system generated TCC is as tenable as the hard copy.

    The aim of this process is to ensure that taxpayers do not suffer unduly where there is need for urgent tendering of the TCC.

    The system allows for TCC validation so that a TCC could be verified by third parties online using the TCC number.

    Restricted TCCs could also be generated online for temporary use where there is an unresolved dispute.

    This will ensure that the taxpayer does not suffer unduly.

    To do business with FIRS, one needs to be duly registered.

    Now, you could get registered and authenticated online by visiting the FIRS website: www.firs.gov.ng, and taking the following steps:

    Log in and proceed to the e-Services tab Click on the log-in or register tab and input your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) or RC Number Choose a user-name and password upon successful registration

    Click on Register and a PIN will be sent to your email for authentication to complete the process.

    For taxpayers who have been registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) but have no TIN, the e-registration process is as follows:

    Log onto https://apps.firs.gov.ng/tinverification/ Enter the CAC registration number (i.e your RC or BN number Enter the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) image that will be displayed If your search is successful, you can input your email address and click on the send to my mail button to have the detail sent to your mail

    Also check your spam folder if you do not see the mail in your inbox.

    Newly incorporated businesses are to go to: www.cac.gov.ng and follow the end to end process which includes payment of Stamp Duties to complete your incorporation process.

    Under the new e-Stamp Duty from the FIRS, stamping could be done from the comfort of your home or office. In the past, it required a physical stamp. For a dutiable instruments, the process is as follows:

    Log on to www.firs.gov.ng Click on the e-Services Click on e-Stamp Duty Log in or sign-up Obtain your credentials (username, password) through your mail Choose a username or password upon successful registration Log in and select the relevant Stamp Duty instrument Fill in the form and pay online through the Integrated Payment Gateway

    A link to download your e-Stamp Duty certificate will be automatically sent to your mail.‎

    Stamp Duty is a tax levied on documents such as receipts, land transactions and other legal documents.

    One of the solutions: e-filing will ensure that taxpayers do not need to visit an FIRS office to file their tax returns. Like others taxpayers trying to access other online solutions of the FIRS, they can now file online by going to e-Services on the FIRS website: www.firs.gov.ng

    Fowler said that the introduction of the new solutions is one of the key steps to make FIRS services convenient, easy and available everywhere and at all times. “It is a revolution in tax administration that combines innovation, convenience and transparency,” the FIRS Chairman said.

     

  • CAC introduces 24-hour company registration process

    CAC introduces 24-hour company registration process

    The Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Mr Mahmud Bello, says the commission has started operating 24 hours company registration process to make startup of business easier in Nigeria.

    Bello said this at the CAC Customers’ Forum in Kano, organised in collaboration with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

    The registrar-general made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja

    He said that the aim of operating the new system was to ensure that business owners in Nigeria conveniently registered their businesses online within 48 hours.

    According to him, series of reforms has been implemented by the commission this year to make it quicker, cheaper and more convenient for Nigerians to start businesses.

    “CAC, as an agency of government involved in the startup of business, has keyed into the Federal Government’s vision to make Nigeria an easier place for businesses to start and thrive.

    “Our reforms are designed with the MSMEs in mind. For us, a customer is a king and must be treated with royalty,” Bello said.

    Bello said that manual application and registration processes would be gradually phased out in the course of the year.

    According to him, the manual registration phase out will start with Lagos and Kano as from April 30, where all submissions should be done online.

    Also, the Secretary of PEBEC, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said the council was committed to providing complete support to CAC and all other MDAs to implement the reforms.

    According to Oduwole, the reform is to actualise the Federal Government’s mandate of making businesses work in Nigeria.

    The high point of the event was a demonstration session by the commission on its latest reforms such as document upload Interface which enabled e-submission of registration documents in CAC registration Portal.

    The demonstration also involves the integration of the FIRS e-payment solution into the portal to enable e-stamping.

    Accordingly, the participants were given a walk-through of the public search window and the single incorporation form.

  • Panic as CAC delists over 38,000 companies for failing to file annual returns

     

    For failing to file in annual reports and other subtle offences, the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC says it has delisted over 38,000 companies from operation in the country.

    This was revealed on Tuesday by the Registrar-General of the Commission, Mr. Bello Mahmud in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

    According to a report by The Punch, Bello said the delisting of the companies have been gazetted by the commission, adding that only the court can give an order for the companies to be readmitted into the register of the commission.

    By delisting of these companies by the CAC, it implies that such companies are no longer registered entities in Nigeria and as such not recognised by law.

    In Bello’s words: “The laws says that if the commission has reasonable cause that the company is not carrying on business while in operation, then it has to enquire from that company and if no response is received within three months, the commission can proceed to strike off the name of the registered company.

    “We have just gazetted a little above 38,000 companies and those companies have been struck off from the register.

    “But by striking off, it doesnt mean the companies have been dissolved. The companies have been more or less suspended and they cannot go back to business unless they obtain an order of court to re-list. The law gives them a window of 20 years within which they can apply for re-list.”

    The Registrar General noted that the CAC has carried out an amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act which is expected to strengthen the regulatory and enforcement powers of the commission.

    He lamented that the CAMA which established the CAC had been in operation for over 20 years, noting that the amendment was needed to enable the commission keep pace with changing business practice.

    He gave some of the key areas that are being amended to include the right of one person to form Private Limited Liability Company; provision for business rescue and recovery proceedings that will give temporary moratorium to financially distressed companies to adopt recovery measures under closed regulatory supervision.