Can a CC be kept dormant and how?

[solweb]

I formed a CC in December 2008 and have done nothing with it since then. The business simply never got of the ground and I found myself going back to freelancing.

In the two years that the CC has been in operation, there has been no income, thus no bank account has been opened. It is not registered with SARS and no return has been submitted to Cipro.

Can I continue using the CC or will I have to close it and start again?

[BusFact]

I don't see why you couldn't continue to use it, but:

- You will need to submit your late annual return.
- You will need to submit your tax returns, even if they are nil ones.
- You will need to get the annual accounts signed off by your accounting officer, even though they will have just about nothing on them. Doubt they'd charge much for this.

I'm not sure what would happen if you just "forgot" about it. Cipro would eventually deregister it, but I'm not sure if there are any financial implications such as penalties for not submitting returns.

Personally I'd prefer to get it up to date so that I don't have any awkward SARS forms to deal with in 10 years time.

[Dave A]

I suggest either deregister or keep up with the returns on time.

- You will need to get the annual accounts signed off by your accounting officer, even though they will have just about nothing on them. Doubt they'd charge much for this.

When it's been dormant since formation, it's just a letter confirming the cc is not trading that the members and accounting officer signs and keeps on record. I've got a Pty Ltd on the shelf and my auditor charges me R350.00 (or there abouts) for the dormant confirmation issue.

CIPRO - R100 per annum for the renewal annual return - add R150 penalty if the return is made late.

The cc will be registered with SARS for income tax; it's automatic. File the nil returns and there'll be no penalties even if they're filed late. What you don't want to wait for is a summons - you'll have to pay an AOG - around R500 - R1000 per return I think.

[solweb]

Thank you for the advice.