CRO Annual Return Date (ARD) Late Filings

Posted in Company Secretarial, CRO, Responsibilities

Missing the Annual Return Date (ARD) for a company with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) can have serious consequences.

If the Annual Return is not filed on time, the company will face penalties including loss of audit exemption, CRO late filing fees and potential legal action against the company and directors.

Late filing at present can result in the loss of audit exemption for a company which will result in the company Financial Statements having to be audited for 2 years and additional substantial and unnecessary professional fees.

Besides monetary fines, late or non-filing can damage a company’s reputation with business customers and suppliers and can adversely affect a company’s credit rating. This could make it difficult to secure bank financing on favourable business terms as banks now review and query late filings.

Late filing penalties are €100 for the first day missed and €3 for each day the return remains unfiled to a maximum of €1,200 per return. This maximum applies to each individual return.

Companies that fail to file their annual returns punctually face the risk of an involuntary strike off by the CRO which means a company ceases to exist and so all the company’s assets become the property of the state.

Non-filing could lead to disqualification from acting as a director or being involved in the management of any company for up to five years.

Prompt action is advised if the ARD plus 56 days with efiling is missed.

A company can submit a late annual return with Financial Statements and pay the calculated fines or it can apply to the District Court for an extension to file the Annual Return which can remove the potential fines.

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