Consequences of Not Filing a Declaration for Commencement of Business in e-Form INC-20A

Form INC-20A is a declaration form that is to be filed by the directors of the company at the time of commencement of business. The declaration form should be verified by the Chartered accountant or cost accountant or company secretary. According to section 10A of companies act 2013 and Rule 23A of companies (incorporation) Rules, 2014 e-Form INC-20A is required to file for the purpose of commencement of business. The company which is incorporated before the commencement of companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 (2^nd November 2018) and the businesses incorporated before 2^nd November 2018 without share capital need not file Form 20A. Every company which are required to file Form 20A have to file the same with 180 days of incorporation of the company.

Prerequisites and procedure to file e-Form 20A

• Directors of the company have to provide a declaration under section 10A in the form of board resolution.
• Also provide the proof of deposit of the paid-up share capital by the subscribers.
• Form 20A needs to be filed within the 180 days of incorporation of business and an eform is to be provided with the concerned Registrar of companies.
• Providing bank statements of the company having all credit entries along with the receipts showing subscription money received from all shareholders.
• The form has to be verified and certified by a Chartered accountant, company secretary, or Cost accountant before filing it with ROC.

Penalties for not filing e-Form 20A

The penalty of Rs. 50,000/- will be imposed on the company for not filing the declaration Each and every officer in default will pay a penalty of Rs. 1,000/- per day maximum up to Rs. 1,00,000/-. The company name shall also be strike off the name of the company from the Registrar of Companies if the Registrar has reasonable grounds that the company is not into any business operations even after 180 days of incorporation. The company shall not be able to borrow the money and not be able to start a business.

Procedure to File e-Form 20A

• Go to the MCA PORTAL
• Click on MCA Services.  A dropdown box will appear in which select the option e filing.
• Then many options will come, click on Company forms download
• After this step a window will open and scroll down to the head “informational services”. There you can click on Form 20A to download with that you can also download instruction kit also.
• The form will be downloaded in a pdf file. Open the form and fill in CIN (Corporate Identification Number). After this click on the “Pre-fill” button which will automatically display the name, office address, email id of the company
• Next step is to attach the required documents in the form and fill the declaration by providing DIN
• Then after filling click on Check, the system will perform the form-level validation.
• After successful validation click on Pre scrutiny.
• Then the form should be digitally signed by the director or authorized person and add DSC of the directors and certified professional in the form.
• The final step is that again login to MCA Portal under MCA services click on upload e-forms and the after unloading the document fees payment is done and SRN will be generated.
• The Declaration form is filed.

Fees for filing e-Form 20A

The fees for filing Form 20A depends on the amount of share capital:

Conclusion

Form 20A is mandatory as a declaration for the commencement of business. The company should file it within 180 days of incorporation as we have discussed there are huge penalties and other consequences of not filing the form.

Avoid penalties of not filing e-form INC-20A. Contact Legal Window today!!