BizFile + Portal Unavailable from 10 to 15 Dec 2020 for System Upgrade

BizFile⁺, ACRA’s online business filing and information portal, is undergoing a major system upgrade and is not available from Thursday, 10 Dec 2020 (6pm) to Tuesday, 15 Dec 2020 (8am). 

Unavailability of BizFile⁺ Portal

During this period, BizFile⁺ users are not able to lodge any online transactions via the portal, nor access business information. The following eServices are not available: 

• All transactions including business name applications/reservations, incorporations/renewals, as well as applications for refunds; 

• Validation and upload of XBRL financial statements via APIs;

• All purchase of business information products from the ACRA iShop and data APIs calls from ACRA API Mall;

• All Deposit Service Account related transactions, such as application, top-up, termination and payment.

Applications and transactions with expiry / effective dates on 10 – 15 Dec 2020

Name reservation  BizFile+ users with name reservations which expire between 10 - 15 Dec 2020 will have to lodge a new application after 15 Dec 2020. The law provides for a 120-day business names reservation period and no further extension can be made.

Endorsement BizFile+ users with transactions requiring endorsements by position holders of the business entity will have to lodge a new application after 15 Dec 2020. The law provides for a 60-day endorsement period and no further extension can be made.

Expiry of Business / Limited Partnership (LP) Registration  Businesses and LPs whose registrations which expire between 10 - 15 Dec 2020 will have to lodge an appeal for renewal of registration with ACRA after 15 Dec 2020.

Name complaint applications based on similar names Members of the public seeking to make name complaint applications based on similar names (i.e. the names of two businesses are similar but not identical to each other) need to file such applications in BizFile+ within 12 months from the date of registration of the name being complained against. If you wish to make a name complaint application based on similar names and the 12-month period ends on 10 - 15 Dec 2020, please email LSD_ACRA@acra.gov.sg for assistance. Please click here for more information on name complaints.

Amalgamation transactions  For critical amalgamation transactions with effective amalgamation dates that fall on 10 – 15 Dec 2020, please contact us using the online email form available at www.acra.gov.sg/contact-us or call our Helpdesk at 62486028 for assistance.

Other Applications Applications such as Notice of Errors, Order of Courts (Expunge Documents, Rectify Errors), and business name applications that have been referred to other authorities for approval, will take a longer than usual time to process, and may only be completed after 15 Dec 2020.

Extension of Filing Time without penalties imposed

As BizFile⁺ is not be available from 10 Dec 2020 (6pm) to 15 Dec 2020 (8am), ACRA will extend the time to file certain transactions as set out in the table below and not impose any late filing penalties that would otherwise be payable:

Filing Transactions with Due Dates on 10 - 15 Dec 2020
Filing of Annual Returns	No filing penalties if the filing is done by 20 Dec 2020
Other types of filings (e.g. Change of Particulars/Appointments/Cessation, Notice of Error, Lodgement of Court Order)

Urgent and critical transactions 

ACRA will assess and assist with critical or time sensitive transactions that must be completed during the system upgrade from 10 – 15 Dec 2020, on a case-by-case basis.

Please provide us with details of the required urgent and critical transaction using the online email form available at www.acra.gov.sg/contact-us or contact our Helpdesk at 62486028 for assistance.

Authorised information resellers

The following information products are available for purchase from ACRA’s authorized information resellers, during the period when ACRA iShop is unavailable: 

• Business Profile
• People Profile
• Other business Information packages

Please click here for the list of authorised information resellers.