Penalty amounts are set by ACRA and can change. Confirm current figures directly with ACRA or a company secretary before acting.
The statutory basis
Failing to file financial statements in the required XBRL format constitutes a filing offence under Section 197 of the Companies Act. Penalties can be imposed on both the company and its directors, not just the corporate entity.
Composition fines
Late filing typically attracts ACRA composition fines starting around S$300 per offence, rising to S$500–S$600 for chronic late filers. These fines escalate with delay rather than staying flat.
Beyond the fine: director-level consequences
Persistent non-compliance carries consequences beyond the composition fine itself:
- Increased regulatory scrutiny and audit risk from ACRA.
- Difficulty in banking relationships — banks may flag non-compliant companies.
- Reputational exposure, since ACRA's enforcement actions are publicly visible.
- Potential disqualification of directors from serving on any Singapore company board for up to 5 years, in cases of persistent default.
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Clearing a filing backlog?
Grab the free XBRL Filing Readiness Checklist — 20+ checks across deadlines, thresholds, and setup, in one printable page.
If you have a backlog of overdue filings
- Confirm your actual FYE-based deadline for each outstanding filing, not the date you first noticed it was overdue.
- Prepare and validate in BizFinx before attempting to file, since validation failures can push you further past the deadline unnecessarily — see our validation errors guide.
- If tagging complexity is the bottleneck, consider engaging a corporate service provider to clear the backlog rather than letting fines escalate further.