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Corporation Tax
If you are trading as a Limited Company, then the Company must submit a corporation tax return nine months after the accounting year end. For example if your Company prepares its accounts to the year ended 31 December 2013, then the Company’ s corporation tax return will be due to be filed this week (specified filing date is 23 September 2014).
These corporation tax deadline dates should be highlighted as Revenue impose late filing surcharges. They are 5% where the return is submitted within two months of the specified filing date and this is increased to 10% of the total liability where the return is submitted more than two months after the specified date. Interest may also be applied on the late payment of tax.
Meeting Revenue deadlines in a timely manner is extremely important not only because it ensures that you do not pay any unnecessary penalties but filing your tax returns late could also prompt a Revenue Audit as your compliance record is an important factor in this selection process.
If the trade is making a loss, it is important to remember that tax returns must also be filed on time to avoid certain loss reliefs being restricted.
Annual Return
Similar to the corporation tax requirements, under Company law accounts should be filed in the Companies Registrations Office (CRO) with an annual return on the Company’s Annual Return Date (ARD) not more than 9 months after the accounting year end.
This means that December year ends will have an Annual Return Date of 30 September. This deadline can however be extended by electronic filing of the annual return.
What happens if I don’t file the annual return?
The CRO will charge a penalty for late filing of €100 for the first day the accounts are late, increasing at a rate of €3 per date thereafter, up to a maximum late filing fee of €1,200 per late return.
If a return is filed late, any entitlement to Audit exemption will be lost for both the relevant year and the following year. The CRO may also initiate enforcement proceedings against the Company and its Directors, including fines and strike off of the Company.
