ARD Change - Extending Date
A company's Annual Return Date (ARD) can be changed by either bringing the date forward to an earlier date or by extending it to a later date.
Extending the ARD to a later date
The ARD is set to a later date by filing Form B73. Form B73 has a filing fee of 15 euro. Form B73 may be filed by a company not more than once in every five years. If your company wishes to extend its current ARD, it may do so by: delivering an annual return to the CRO not later than 28 days after its current ARD, to which no accounts need to be annexed, and nominating on Form B73 the new ARD, which date may be not later than six months after its first ARD.
It is a statutory requirement that Form B73 be delivered to the CRO within 28 days from the company's existing ARD. As a matter of law, a Form B73 is ineffective and cannot be accepted by the CRO if it is filed more than 28 days after the company's existing ARD.
Second Annual Return & New Companies
New companies are due to file accounts with their second annual return, which return is required to be made up to a date not later than 18 months post-incorporation, unless the company alters its ARD. Such companies may extend their ARD using Form B73 procedure outlined above. (The company can opt to extend its annual return date (ARD) by a maximum of up to six months from its current ARD). Requirements that still need to followed by company - Please Note: The company and its officers ought to ensure that the company does not breach other requirements of the Companies Acts - such as the requirement to hold its first AGM within 18 months of incorporation (Section 131 of the 1963 Companies Act) and the requirement to present accounts to its AGM within 9 months of the balance sheet date (Section 148(7) of the 1963 Companies Act).
These obligations are entirely independent of the annual return filing obligation with the CRO. It is a criminal offence to breach sections 131 & 148 of the Companies Act 1963.
First Annual Return & New Companies
Form B73 ought not to be filed with the company's first annual return, as the effect of this is to shorten the time allowed to the company before it has to file accounts with its annual return. A company's first annual return is made up to the date which is 6 months post-incorporation, no accounts attached.
Filing the B73 shortens the timescale within which accounts have to be filed by the company - for example a company incorporated on 10 February 2010 is due to make its first annual return (without accounts) up to 10 August 2010. On filing this return, its next annual return date becomes 10 August 2011. If the company files a B73 with its first return, however, it creates a new ARD, being the date nominated by it on the B73, and accounts will have to be attached to its second return which can be made up to 10 February 2011 at the latest.
Link to Forms Page B73
Bringing the ARD forward to an earlier date
(This does not apply to new companies incorporated on or after 1 March 2002 filing their first annual return.)
To alter its ARD to an earlier date, a company may file an annual return with a made-up-to date earlier than the company's existing ARD. A company that has prepared an annual return in advance of its current ARD is able to file a return made up to a date prior to its ARD. However, if it wishes to retain the anniversary of its exiting ARD for next year, it must notify the CRO of this on the Form B1.
Where the company elects to retain the anniversary of its existing ARD for the following year, the "Yes" box in the relevant section in Form B1 must be ticked. Where it elects that its ARD in the following year will be the anniversary of the date to which its current return has been made up, the "No" box ought to be ticked. If neither box is ticked and the company has filed a return which is made up to a date earlier than its current ARD, the form will be returned by the CRO to the presenter for correction.
A company with a next ARD of say 31 January 2011 (which company already filed a 2010 return made up to 31 January 2010) which files another return during 2010 made up to 17 May 2010 and ticks the "Yes" box on the new B1 to elect "to keep the anniversary of its existing ARD for next year" does not change its next ARD to 31 January 2012 by so doing. The company"s next ARD remains 31 January 2011, as that ARD is in the next calendar year to the year in which the new B1 has been filed. Section 125 requires a return to be filed at least once in every calendar year.
In all cases, an annual return delivered to the CRO has to be filed within 28 days of the "return made-up-to" date. Therefore, a company that wishes to file early but elects to retain the anniversary of its existing ARD or a company filing early in order to create an earlier ARD for filing, must file Form B1 within 28 days of the "Return made up to date" indicated on the form.
Print this page