Acra waives late filing penalties till March 15, while it rectifies issues with its new portal

SINGAPORE - The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) will waive penalties for the late filing of annual returns till March 15, while it resolves e-service issues on its revamped business portal Bizfile.

This deadline extension is Acra’s third since Dec 21.

Business owners, lawyers and corporate services providers have faced issues using Bizfile since its revamp on Dec 9. These include delays in registering new firms and updating details of key appointment holders or company information. There have also been inaccuracies in the business data displayed on Bizfile, including incomplete or missing names.

Acknowledging the problems, Acra told The Straits Times on Feb 15 that it has been working closely with its technology vendor to rectify these issues since December.

“Most of the functions on Bizfile, including... registration of businesses and annual return filings, are now operating as intended,” Acra said.

Some users may still face intermittent issues during certain transactions, which will take more time to resolve, it said.

Regarding inaccuracies, Acra added: “We have been working with our users to resolve these, and we apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

It urged users who need to file time-sensitive and critical transactions to call its helpdesk.

Due to these issues, Acra has extended the deadline for all annual returns – and ad hoc filings that are due between Dec 9, 2024, and Feb 28, 2025 – to March 15, 2025. No late lodgement penalties will be imposed.

Nevertheless, Acra maintained that the volume of successful transactions in January 2025 is comparable to the same period in 2024 and that most business registrations are also completed within the same day. The authority did not state the expected waiting duration for transactions.

Applications for new business entities that were delayed were often due to clarifications that needed to be made with applicants, it added.

The system issues come after the new Bizfile platform triggered concerns among the public in December. The revamped portal had allowed users to

access individuals’ full NRIC numbers on its database for free

, raising data privacy concerns. Acra

subsequently apologised

and amended the function.

At least eight lawyers and corporate services providers interviewed said that since the Dec 9 revamp, they have faced repeated delays on Bizfile while handling administrative services for clients. Many also said they were frustrated by what they felt was a lack of communication and slow customer support from Acra.

Mr Kenneth Cheong, an assistant manager at accounting services provider U Ventures, said that since December, up to 60 of the firm’s clients have faced delays over difficulties filing notices of resolution, financial statements, and changes in company shareholders and key appointment holders.

Some transactions have taken up to weeks through the new Bizfile portal, whereas the old system could process them in minutes, said Mr Cheong. He added that the delays have caused some clients to miss out on time-sensitive approvals that typically rely on a company’s registration status.

Ms Esleen Goh faced a one-week delay in January when she tried to register a new firm, bizElev8.ai, which focuses on artificial intelligence-enabled sales solutions. The shareholders’ information on her business filing was wrong after registration was completed.

Ms Goh said she engaged a corporate services provider to handle the administrative work after failing to reach a live agent for support.

Mr Sebastian Neo, director of Foodxpert and Retail Consultancy, said several clients faced weeks-long registration delays on the Bizfile portal, with one unable to sign a lease agreement without proof of registration.

The delay ate into the client’s rent-free renovation period, resulting in thousands of dollars in rental costs incurred, he said.

Mr Victor Lai, principal consultant at corporate services provider CitadelCorp, said he has told his clients to anticipate some delays and has worked with them on interim arrangements wherever possible, such as drafting documents to indicate that a transaction is still pending.

Most filings since January have been smooth, compared with delays faced during the platform’s revamp in December, said Mr Lai, adding that such issues are unsurprising due to the huge system overhaul involving a huge volume of data.

“Transactions have taken more time, but also partly because we are still getting used to the new format of the platform,” he said. “We have been absorbing the cost of the extra time taken to make filings without passing it on to our customers.”

The new Bizfile portal makes it easier for users to retrieve information, such as company personnel and records, as its menus are better integrated, he added.

“I think it is just a matter of time. Once these technical issues are solved, filing on the new platform will be more efficient,” said Mr Lai.