(1)If a company fails to deliver an annual return before the end of the period of 28 days after a return date, an offence is committed by—
(a)the company,
(b)subject to subsection (4)—
(i)every director of the company, and
(ii)in the case of a private company with a secretary or a public company, every secretary of the company, and
(c)every other officer of the company who is in default.
(2)A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale and, for continued contravention, a daily default fine not exceeding one-tenth of level 5 on the standard scale.
(3)The contravention continues until such time as an annual return made up to that return date is delivered by the company to the registrar.
(4)It is a defence for a director or secretary charged with an offence under subsection (1)(b) to prove that he took all reasonable steps to avoid the commission or continuation of the offence.
(5)In the case of continued contravention, an offence is also committed by every officer of the company who did not commit an offence under subsection (1) in relation to the initial contravention but is in default in relation to the continued contravention.
A person guilty of an offence under this subsection is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one-tenth of level 5 on the standard scale for each day on which the contravention continues and he is in default.