The new audit regulation provides for fines for companies that fail to submit annual accounts.

10 March 2021
Business Consultancy

This year, companies that have to submit their annual accounts should pay attention to the new regulations of the Accounts Auditing Law (RD 2/2021, of 12 January). The new regulation, in force since 1 February, establishes a series of measures to strengthen and speed up the sanctioning procedure against companies that fail to file their annual accounts.

Until now, failure to file annual accounts did not generate legal problems for the company and, therefore, it could be profitable to leave it inactive in order to avoid paying the costs of dissolution and liquidation of the company. With the entry into force of this new regulation, dormant companies will be obliged to regularise the situation of the dormant company in order to avoid penalties.

What penalties can companies be faced with for failing to file their annual accounts?

Companies can face fines ranging from €1,200 to €60,000 (in the case of SMEs) for failing to comply with certain formal obligations.

The penalties are 0.5 per thousand of the total amount of the asset items, plus 0.5 per thousand of the entity's turnover included in the last return filed with the tax authorities. The original must be adapted to the procedure.

In case of filing the tax return, the penalty would be set at 2% of the share capital according to the data of the Commercial Register.

The consequences of these penalties also entail the withdrawal of the NIF, as it is removed from the Commercial Register and the company is therefore extinguished.

What is the deadline for filing the annual accounts?

The filing of the annual accounts is within the deadline if they are filed within one month of the meeting at which they are approved. Late filing before the end of the year does not entail a penalty, but the deposit of the accounts for the last three years is required in order to close the register.

What documents must be submitted?

The following must be submitted: certificate of approval of the accounts, annual report, balance sheet, profit and loss account, declaration of identification of the beneficial owner, environmental report, report on own shares/participations, general identification data sheet, filing form.

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