The May 2016 Ezine from the Companies Registration Office contains the following guidance:
"DO NOT LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE TO FILE YOUR ANNUAL RETURN
CRO regularly receives correspondence from presenters who miss their annual return filing deadline because (a) they encountered technical problems while attempting to submit their B1 electronically on the last day, or (b) they posted their documents to the CRO in the days before the deadline and they were delayed in the post.
In light of the very serious consequences of late filing (ie late penalties and loss of audit exemption), CRO would exhort companies not to leave it to the last day to submit your B1 on-line as there is a risk that a temporary issue with your PC, your broadband service, web browser or server could prevent you from completing the filing on time.
Similarly, if you are sending an annual return to the CRO close to the filing deadline, CRO advises that you use a form of delivery service which guarantees that the documents will be delivered on time and provides proof of delivery. There are a number of providers offering this service (eg An Post's Express Post service guarantees next day delivery). Documents can also be hand delivered to the CRO's Public Office at 14 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, which opens from 9.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
The 2014 Companies Act places the responsibility on the company itself for on-time DELIVERY of its annual return to the CRO.
IF AN ANNUAL RETURN IS DELIVERED LATE, THE CRO HAS NO DISCRETION IN RELATION TO THE APPLICATION OF PENALTIES AND LOSS OF AUDIT EXEMPTION.
For more information, please see Missed Deadlines page or Information leaflet 39.
PRINTING DOWN B1 SIGNATURE PAGES WHEN FILING THROUGH CORE
When filing an annual return through CORE, unless you are signing using ROS signatures, you MUST print down a B1 signature page, sign it and submit it to the CRO (along with financial statements where required).
If you do not send a signed signature page to the CRO within 28 days of submitting the e-B1 through CORE, you risk incurring late filing penalties and losing your audit exemption.
For more information click on https://www.cro.ie/Portals/0/Leaflets/B1online_DL%20v1.6.pdf"
Disclaimer
The material in this article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or taxation advice. Specific legal and taxation advice should be sought before acting. All information and taxation rules are subject to change without notice.
No liability whatsoever is accepted by M. McLoughlin & Co. for any action taken in reliance on the information in this article