Its that time of year with the 30 September 2019 Annual Return Dates due to be filed no later than 29th October 2019 in CRO. So with this in mind we highlight some issues to be aware of that could lead to a missed filing.
Due to the change in the audit exemption rules, companies can file an annual return late and loose audit exemption without being notified by CRO. See below for more on this.
File on Time!
Obvious point but if you don’t file the annual return within 28 days of the ARD then you are late! The 30 September ARD’s have until 29 October (due to the bank holiday) to file the annual return and then a further 28 days to upload the financial statements and send the signed signature page to the CRO.
PDF Financial Statements
This is the third year companies must file PDF financial statements. Some of the issues we have seen are companies uploading the incorrect financial statements either the wrong version or the full version instead of the abridged or the wrong set for the wrong company. Please take care when choosing what version is uploaded as it’s a High Court Order to remove them from the Register.
Financial Statements before signature page
The financial statements should be uploaded in CORE before the signature page is filed with the CRO, If the signature page is scanned by CRO and the financial statements are not uploaded (even if its before the filing deadline) the annual return will be rejected and no 14 days will apply.
Express Post
If you are posting annual returns to the CRO please use Express Post or some other form of time guaranteed delivery service. Registered Post is not Express Post as it does not guarantee a time for delivery.
Missed Deadlines and loss of audit exemption
The change to the audit exemption rules now means a late annual return may be registered with audit exempt financial statements. The company will then have to have the next two financial years audited.
Because of this companies may result in filing late and not being made aware that the company has filed late. Therefore they will loose audit exemption as the CRO do not have to return the annual return and financial statements and once the CRO account has enough money to pay the late filing penalties the annual return will be registered.
This situations means that a company cannot go the district court to retain the audit exemption as the annual return has been registered.
Reduced Strike Off Period
CRO have reduced the time period from when a company is late to when it will be strike off listed. This period has been reduced from 300 days to 180 days so companies have less time before they face being strike off listed.
Note: The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.
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