Annual Return Covid Filing Extension – Time is running out, fast !

It’s hard to believe that nearly 14 months have passed since the Companies Registration Office announced the first filing extension for Annual Returns, due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

 

After more than a year of lockdowns and the complete shutdown of some sectors of the Irish economy, we are now beginning to see the roll out of vaccines and the cautious re-opening of society, including the re-opening of many businesses.

 

Whilst, understandably, many business owners and Directors are currently preoccupied with recommencing trading, accessing Covid supports and putting in place measures to keep both customers and staff safe, it is also important to remember that the most recent annual return filing extension, put in place by the CRO on 22^nd October, will come to an end shortly.

 

This filing extension gives any company with an Annual Return Date (ARD) of 30^th September 2020, or later, an extended period to complete the filing of that annual return, up until

 

28^th May 2021.

 

So, If any companies under you care have been availing of that extended time period, it is vital that all elements of your annual return are completed before this date in order to avoid being late.

 

If you file after this date, late filing penalties and a loss of audit exemption for the following two sets of financial statements will apply, in the normal manner.

 

The CRO have confirmed that any company who is availing of this extended period can still file a B1+B73 form to push out their ARD to a future date.  Bearing in mind that you cannot extend your ARD by more than 6 months, there cannot be more than 9 months between your new ARD and your financial year end and you can only undertake this extension procedure once every 5 calendar years.

 

For any company with a legitimate issue in meeting their filing date, the option to make an application to the District Court for a further extension to file, is of course still open to them and our Fact Sheet on this process can be found HERE.

 

For further information on annual return filing requirements or making a District Court application, please don’t hesitate to contact Sue Jesper, Company Secretarial Supervisor ([email protected]) or any of the team in CFI (Full contact details are available HERE)