State may remove late filers from commercial register

Nearly 67,000 Estonian companies and organisations have not submitted their annual reports more than two months after the deadline, ERR reported. Some have received warnings that they could be removed from the commercial register and may soon face fines.

The deadline for submitting annual reports was June 30. All companies, foundations and non-profit associations must file a report each year, including those that had no business activity.

The companies that have failed to submit reports account for 24 percent of all reporting entities, according to figures from Tuesday.

The commercial register is administered by the registry department of Tartu County Court. Court spokesman Siim Saavik said both large and small companies were experiencing problems. Larger organisations may face difficulties with auditing, while smaller ones may simply forget to file or wait until they receive a warning.

Companies often tell the court that they did not receive a warning or that the court did not send one. Saavik said warnings were generally visible in digital systems but could be overlooked, and urged organisations to check that their contact details were up to date and that notices could be accessed.

A law that took effect at the beginning of 2023 gave the registrar greater powers to address late filers. Repeat fines of up to 3,200 euros can be imposed.

Companies may be removed

The law allows companies that have ignored the reporting deadline to be removed from the commercial register three months after the deadline. That period expires on October 1.

Justice and Digital Minister Liisa Pakosta said this did not mean that every company that had failed to file a report would be removed on October 1. Tartu County Court also confirmed that companies only a few months late were not facing immediate removal. The measure could affect companies whose deadlines had passed considerably earlier and that had already received a removal warning.

Pakosta said companies cannot be removed if they have debts to individuals or to the Tax and Customs Board, or if legal proceedings against them are under way.

She said the state had made several changes to encourage companies to submit their reports. Authorities can impose sanctions, including fines or removal from the register, but are not required to do so.

Pakosta added that companies failing to submit reports risk appearing unreliable. Public annual reports are intended to help market participants assess which companies to do business with, she said.