The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) communicated on 29 June 2020 the waiver of penalties for late audit report submissions in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown.
As indicated in the communication of 29 June 2020, consultations between the EAAB and the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation were continuing and the EAAB undertook to communicate the outcome of the consultation.
The consultation has since been concluded and in view of the Covid-19 lockdown and the effect it has on the abilities of the estate agencies and their auditors to comply with these submission deadlines, the EAAB Board, in consultation with the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, has decided to waive late submission penalties for those estate agencies whose auditors will submit their audit reports after the legislated submission deadlines.
This waiver of penalties will only apply to the 2019 audit reports for those estate agencies whose financial year-end was 31 December 2019 and to the 2020 audit reports for those estate agencies whose financial year-ends fell within the period from 31 January 2020 to 31 May 2020.
This waiver will only apply on condition that the audit reports for the above-affected estate agencies are submitted to the EAAB on or before 31 October 2020, being within five months from the day that the lockdown restrictions on the real estate sector were fully lifted by the government on 1 June 2020. The deadline for all other estate agencies whose financial year-ends do not fall in the above category will remain as four months after the financial year-end of the relevant estate agency.
Issued by:
ESTATE AGENCY AFFAIRS BOARD
