Can a PTY Ltd use Trading As...?

[SamanthaLeigh]

Thanks so much for this!
I will now happily and confidently move forward with registering a PTY ltd and just trade as the name I've been using for the last 2 years!
I appreciated your advice and experience! (Especially with the VAT - eish!)

[Andromeda]

So the last conversation I had with the accounting firm that is helping me is to see if the name I want has been registered by anyone else. He says if it HASN'T been registered by anyone else then I can Trade As with that name knowing that no one else can register it (because we couldn't).

So would that be legal? Knowing that I am trading as with the name that cannot be registered because the CIPC will reject anyone who tries to do so?

The long established rule (but which have always frequently been ignored), is that if you use trading name you must also state the registered name and registration number. If that rule is adhered to then there can never be an issue or confusion.

Regarding the withdrawal of that 2012 notice; no it is still in effect. To register a trading required that you register a defensive name, and that functionality is still suspended (I just checked) at CIPC.

And I agree totally with your accountants; if you register for vat in your personal capacity it will haunt you. Besides the long term effect there is the matter of what is "in" and what is not.