Extension of Financial Year-Possibilities under Company Law???

“Financial year” means, in relation to anybody corporate, the period in respect of which any profit and loss account of the body corporate laid before it in Annual General Meeting is made up, whether that period is a year or not:

Financial Year in relation to any company or body corporate, means the period ending on the 31st day of March every year, and where it has been incorporated on or after the 1st day of January of a year, the period ending on the 31st day of March of the following year, in respect whereof financial statement of the company or body corporate is made up:

Inserted by (Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 is repealed on 12th January 2019)

Provided that where a company or body corporate, which is a holding company or a subsidiary or associate company of a company incorporated outside India and is required to follow a different financial year for consolidation of its accounts outside India, the Central Government^# may, on an application made by that company or body corporate in such form and manner as may be prescribed, allow any period as its financial year, whether or not that period is a year:

Provided also that any application pending before the Tribunal as on the date of commencement of the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, shall be disposed of by the Tribunal in accordance with the provisions applicable to it before such commencement.

Provided also that a company or body corporate, existing on the commencement of this Act, shall, within a period of two years from such commencement, align its financial year as per the provisions of this clause;

# Power delegate to Regional Director

Annual Accounts and Balance Sheet

The period to which the account aforesaid relates is referred to in this Act as a ” financial year ” and it may be less or more than a calendar year, but it shall not exceed fifteen months;

Provided that it may extend to eighteen months where special permission has been granted in that behalf by the Registrar

Financial Statement

There is no such provision in the Companies Act, 2013.

As per section 2(41) of the Companies Act, 2013 every company is required to follow uniform financial year ending on 31^st March.

The Ministry has given a transition period of 2 years to comply with the requirement to those companies who follow different financial year. That means the company has to comply with this provisions by 31^st March, 2016

Section 210 of the Companies Act, 1956 has been repealed w.e.f 01.04.2014 itself and neither the corresponding provision i.e. section 129 (Annual Financial Statements) nor section 2(41) of the Companies Act, 2013 prescribes any procedure for such extension.

The Registrar of Companies is having no power in this regard.

The intention of section 2 (41) of the Companies Act, 2013 may have to follow uniform Financial Year and the same was to be achieved by the end of 31^st march,2016.