“The company isn’t doing anything, so there’s nothing to file” — the sentence that precedes most strike-off notices. Inactivity does not suspend company law.
What an inactive company still owes
- Annual financial statements and annual return filings — nil activity is still reported activity
- ITR every year
- Director KYC for every DIN holder
- Statutory registers and the minimum meeting record
The formal alternatives to drifting
- Dormant status: companies holding assets or IP without operations can apply for dormant classification — reduced compliance under the prescribed regime, with conditions and periodic filings to retain it
- Strike-off: a company with no intention of resuming can apply for removal after settling liabilities — the clean exit
Choosing deliberately
Keeping a shell “just in case” costs annual compliance forever; strike-off costs a one-time process; dormant status sits between. Any of them beats accumulating defaults that attach to the directors personally.
We help owners choose and execute — compliance service · discuss your shell company.
