Short Summary
Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) by an amendment in Rule 11 of Companies (Management and Administration) Amendment Rules, 2021 has introduced e-form MGT-7A as an annual return of Small Companies and OPC w.e.f. Financial Year 2020-21 onwards. MGT-7A is available on the MCA Portal since 17th July 2021.
In this editorial author shall discuss the questions arising in mind of professionals/ corporates i.e. If Any Small Company or OPC wants to file Annual Return for ended before 31.03.2021 (eg. FY 2019-20, 2018-19, or any previous financial year). Then such Company needs to file MGT-7 or MGT-7A for such previous years?
A. Provisions
Extract of Rule -11
Every company shall file its annual return in Form No.MGT-7 except
- One Person Company (OPC) and
- Small Company.
One Person Company and Small Company shall file annual return from the financial year 2020-2021 onwards in Form No. MGT-7A.
B. Interpretation of New Provisions
As per Rule 11 (extract given above) OPC and Small Company shall file MGT-7A for FY 2020-21 and onwards. After reading this one can opine that MGT-7 is applicable from 2020-21 and onwards.
C. Practical Difficulty
As form MGT-7A launched on 17th July 2021 and on same date MCA has launched updated version of MGT-7.
After Updation in MGT-7 w.e.f. 17th July 2021 it is not even accepting CIN of Small Companies and OPC and showing following error.
According to this Error MGT-7 shall not accept CIN of Small Companies and OPC w.e.f. 17th July 2021.
D. Conclusion
After reading the provisions and practical aspect one can opine that as on date if a Small Company or OPC wants to file their Annual Return for FY before 2020-21 i.e. 2019-20, 2018-19 or earlier financial years, then such companies have to file such Annual Returns in form MGT-7A instead of form MGT-7.
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