National Assembly approves amnesty programme for companies and associations |04 November 2021

The National Assembly on Tuesday voted to approve the amnesty programme for domestic companies and associations which will exempt them from meeting obligations such as submission of annual returns, audited accounts and payments of annual fees and late fees to the Registrar until July 31, 2022.

These apply to obligatory documents and payments that were incurred in 2019 and 2020 and were supposed to be submitted in 2020 and 2021.

Vice-President Ahmed Afif brought these amendments to the Companies Act and Registration of Association Act explaining that the amnesty programme is the result of discussions between the government and the private sector, most notably the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and the Praslin Business Association.

The decision to implement this amnesty programme stems from difficulties encountered by companies and associations to comply with the Companies Act and Registration of Associations Act, mainly due to the economic effects of Covid-19.

Vice-President Afif noted that these two pieces of legislation were amended last year to bring more discipline and allow the Registrar to have an updated and concise list of companies and associations operating in Seychelles.

“The amnesty programme will give these organisations some time to recalibrate themselves and do the necessary to become compliant with these laws. The bill that we are presenting today will ensure that this amnesty becomes a reality,” explained VP Afif.

“Through these amendments, we are proposing that the domestic companies and associations receive a grace period up until July 31, 2022 next year to submit their annual returns and audited accounts for 2019 and 2020 that was supposed to be submitted in 2020 and 2021 respectively.”

“Additionally, it is being proposed that entities that have yet to pay their annual returns in 2021 will have until July 31, 2022 to make the payments. Similarly, associations that have to pay a percentage of their profits and that have not done so in 2020 and 2021 will have until July 31, 2022 to make the payments to the Registrar,” added VP Afif.

To achieve this without infringing any laws, the amendments suspend the provisions which make all of the above obligatory until July 31, 2022 with the expectation that the companies and associations will be back on their feet and comply with the Companies Act and Registration of Association Act.

VP Afif went on to add that this will greatly benefit businesses, particularly small enterprises and start-ups and help contribute towards the ease of doing business in Seychelles.

Elsie Pointe