Closing a company down properly costs something, even when there is no business left to run. CAC charges a fee for a voluntary strike-off, just as it does for keeping a company going.
Closing a company yourself differs from being struck off
CAC can strike a company off its own register. It does this when a company stops filing annual returns for long enough. That is CAC acting on its own, against the company's wishes.
A voluntary strike-off is the opposite. The company itself applies to close down in an orderly way. Often the business has stopped trading, and the directors want a clean end rather than years of drifting non-compliance.
Think of the two as opposite ends of the same problem. One is a company that let things slide. The other is a company choosing to stop on its own terms.
The fee for a small company's application
A small company pays ₦25,000 to apply for a voluntary strike-off. Other private companies, public companies and business names pay their own separate rates.
Budget for this fee alongside any outstanding filings you still owe. Closing down does not waive what is already due.
The prerequisite CAC checks before it proceeds
Up-to-date annual returns and PSC information before CAC processes most post-incorporation filings. A voluntary strike-off application sits inside that same broad rule, since CAC's own notice describes it as covering post-incorporation processes generally, not one filing type.
In practice, this means clearing any outstanding annual returns and PSC information first. A company hoping to skip years of unfiled returns by applying to close down instead should not expect that route to work.
What striking off actually ends for directors and members
Striking off ends the company's legal existence on CAC's register. Contracts, remaining assets and any liabilities do not simply disappear along with it.
Settle these loose ends before you apply, not after. A clean company with nothing outstanding is the easiest case for CAC to process.
This article cannot walk through every consequence for directors, shareholders or creditors, since that depends heavily on the company's specific situation. Treat this as a legal and accounting question, not a form you fill in without advice.
When an accountant or lawyer should handle it instead
A company with no outstanding filings, no assets and no creditors is a straightforward case. Anything more complicated, unresolved debts, property still in the company's name, or a dispute among shareholders, is worth handing to an accountant or lawyer before you apply.
Getting this wrong can leave directors dealing with consequences long after they assumed the company was closed.
You can start a CAC annual return if outstanding returns are what stands between your company and a clean close. The CAC annual returns hub covers the filing side of getting current, and the CAC registration hub links this series on post-incorporation changes.