CRO Deadlines

Annual Return (Form B1) is required to be submitted by all companies, whether trading or not to the Companies Registration Office (CRO) at least once a year. After the initial 6 month return all other returns must have financial statements attached. The Annual return date is set in the following ways:

• After incorporation – The Company’s Annual Return date (ARD) is set as 6 months after this date and is exempt from uploading Financial Statements.
• When the financial year/period end is set for a company the ARD must be submitted 9 months plus 28 day after this date.

The CRO introduced mandatory e-filing for Irish companies in June 2017 for the following documents:

• Form B1 – Annual Return
• Form B2 – Change of registered office
• Form B10 – Change of directors or secretaries details
• Form B72 – Nomination of new Annual Return date

An Annual Return must be submitted to the CRO no later than 28 days after the Annual Return date. Where the Annual Return date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a bank holiday Monday the 28 day period is extended to the next working day. The Annual Return must be e-filed online and payment must be made by the customer account or debit/credit card. After submitting the Annual Return, if Financial Statements are required (all subsequent annual returns except initial 6 month post incorporation return) you have a further 28 days to upload them and issue the relevant documents to the CRO. (Confirmation of e-filing and Signature Pages) Where an Annual Return or if the Financial Statements are uploaded late the full Annual Return is deemed as late, resulting in late filing fees and where relevant the company will lose its audit exemption for the following two years.  Late filing penalties apply at €100 + €3 per day up to a maximum of €1,240 per return. Where an annual return is sent back by the CRO for corrections or for fees, the CRO require the corrected documents to be delivered to them within 14 days of the request letter from them. Contact us about your company secretarial and Annual Return requirements and we can assist in establishing your return and filing requirements.  We also maintain an early warning list for our client’s companies to ensure all filings are made on time and your company is maintained in good standing.