Annual Returns

An annual return (Form B1) is an electronic document setting out certain prescribed company information which is required to be delivered by every Irish company, whether trading or not, to the Companies Registration Office (CRO) once at least in every calendar year. The first Annual Return falls on the 6-month anniversary of the incorporation date. The purpose of this return is to simply upload a snapshot of the company’s statutory information to the public record. Financial Statements are not required for filing with the first Annual Return. If this Annual Return is missed or is late, the CRO will impose a penalty of €100 on the company, which accumulates by €3 daily.

The next ARD will be 12 months from the first ARD or 18 months from the date of incorporation, and every 12 months thereafter. Subsequent Annual Returns require a set of Financial Statements showing the activities of the company for the financial period/year; whether trading or dormant. The company must upload their Financial Statements to the CRO website within 28 days of the ARD. If the annual return is late the company will lose its audit exemption which is very costly for the company and the CRO will impose penalty fees of €100 on the company, which accumulate by €3 daily. The company has the option of paying the late fees on the first late annual return and then deferring the audit for the following two years.

Financial Statements must be prepared in accordance with the audit exemption of the company and the requirements laid out by the Companies Act 2014 and generally accepted accounting principles. The first financial period can be no longer than 18 months in length and cannot pre-date the ARD by 9 months.

If required, it is possible to extend the ARD of a company by up to 6 months from the ARD, but no more than 9 months from the financial year end date. This can only be done once in a 5-year period, so this decision must not be taken lightly. It is also possible to change the ARD by filing the annual return early once an annual return is filed once in each calendar year.