Apply for remission of late filing penalty or exemption from joint liability
Last updated: 16 August 2024.
It is possible to apply for remission of the late filing penalty or exemption from joint and several liability. Joint and several liability means that several persons may be personally liable for the same claim.
The late filing penalty must stop accruing before you can apply for remission or exemption. You cannot appeal the levied fine or decline it.
The application must be in writing. You must explain why complete annual accounts were not submitted to the Register of Company Accounts within the deadline, and you must document the causes to remit the penalty fee.
You must pay the late filing penalty even if you apply for remission or exemption.
Terms of remission or exemption from joint liability
The Register of Company Accounts will assess whether the reason meets the requirements beyond the accountant’s control, or within special reasons. The terms are strict and it is difficult to be remitted the late filing penalty or to be exempt from the joint and several liability. There are only in extraneous circumstances that we can remit the late filing penalty in whole or in part. The same terms apply to exemption from the joint and several liability.
Examples of such causes are
- acute or severe illness
- data casualty
- seizure of accounting material
- fire
- theft
- COVID-19 (applies only to the accounting year 2019 and 2020)
Examples of such causes are
- ignorance of laws and rules that apply
- age
- illness with only one of more persons with joint and several liability
- when the board post is a formality
- insufficient receiving of a reminder to submit annual accounts
- little or no activity in the enterprise
- that the enterprise is under liquidation
- that the enterprise has a charitable purpose, is run by voluntary work or does not conduct business activities
- misunderstandings and other internal affairs between you and your accountant or auditor
- poor economy in the enterprise
- that the late filing penalty is unreasonably large
- high workload
Conditions beyond the accountant’s control
For the terms to lead to remission or exemption, you must document that unexpected conditions arose that were beyond your control in the role of responsible for the enterprise. You must also have done everything possible to comply with the submission obligation. Besides, there must be a connection between what happened and that the annual accounts were not sent within the deadline.
Special reasonableness
The terms apply when it becomes completely unreasonable to maintain the late filing penalty. This occur only in very special cases.
Are you going to apply for remission or exemption?
You have to send the appeal to:
The Register of Company Accounts
P.O. Box 900
8910 Brønnøysund
You may also send the appeal through our contact form, unless it contains sensitive information.
Have you received rejection of your application?
If you are rejected an application for remission of the late filing penalty, or exemption from the joint and several liability, you can appeal the decision. The deadline for appeals is three weeks from the time you receive the rejection. The appeal must be in writing and signed. You must explain and document the grounds you are taken into account. We will then reconsider the case. If we do not change the decision, it will be forwarded to the administrative appeal body at the National Collection Agency.
You have to send the appeal to:
The Register of Company Accounts
P.O. Box 900
8910 Brønnøysund
You may also send the appeal through our contact form, unless it contains sensitive information.