ANNUAL RETURNS - OCTOBER PEAK

E-B1 HELPLINES

On the final day of the peak, Friday, 28 October, if you experience difficulty while filing an electronic annual return (e-B1), you can obtain help with the content of the e-B1 from:

LoCall 1890-252536* / 059-9178981 / 01-8045394 or eb1@djei.ie  (lines will be open from 9am to 6pm).

Help with technical or IT issues is available from: 01-8045374 / 01-8045307 / 01-8045355 or electronic_filing@djei.ie  (from 9am to 5pm).

* Note that the rates charged for the use of 1890 (LoCall) numbers may vary among different service providers.

FILING DOCUMENTS WITH CRO

If posting an annual return to the CRO it should be sent to CRO, O’Brien Road, Carlow. The office in Carlow is for receipt of postal lodgements only and is not a public office.

Alternatively, presenters can hand deliver to the CRO's Public Office in Parnell Square where you will be provided with a receipt for your documents.

The Public Office is open from 9.30am. Personal callers are reminded that the queues can be shorter in the Public Office in the morning time and should consider lodging their documents as early as possible to ensure they can be checked and receipts issued on the day.

The Public Office closes at 4.30pm but documents should be delivered before 4pm to ensure they can be checked and receipts issued on the day.

CHECKING THE STATUS OF YOUR SUBMISSIONS

About 38,000 companies have an annual return date of 30 September.

As a result of the very high volumes of returns filed in the period leading up to the peak filing day of 28 October, it will take approximately ten working days for CRO to process these returns and make them available to view on our website - www.cro.ie - or to monitor on CORE - www.core.ie (see also e-zine No 100 of 3 October).

However, all documents are stamped with the date received in the CRO and that date is recorded as the "received date" irrespective of when the document is entered onto the Register.

Until such time as the volumes received at the peak are brought up-to-date, the CRO General Information Line (Telephone 01-8045200 / Lo-call 1890 220 226) will carry a recorded message and the CRO website will state the date of receipt of the annual returns which CRO is currently processing (eg "Today, 26 October, 2011, CRO is processing annual returns received on 21 October").

NB: During this time, it will not be possible for CRO to confirm receipt of documents delivered after the date given in the recorded message and on the website.

OBTAINING CONFIRMATION THAT DOCUMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED IN CRO

If a presenter wishes to receive immediate confirmation that an annual return has been delivered to the CRO, the options available are to either hand deliver the return to the CRO’s Public Office in Parnell House and obtain a receipt, or to use a reputable delivery service which provides time guaranteed delivery and proof of delivery.

If posting documents to CRO very close to the deadline, it is recommended that presenters use a service which guarantees next day delivery and provides proof of delivery (eg An Post’s EXPRESS POST service).

BINDING OF DOCUMENTS & STAPLING OF CHEQUES TO DOCUMENTS

Statutuory Instrument No. 139 of 2002 sets out a number of standards and conditions regarding documents submitted to the CRO. Among these are that "documents shall not be stitched together or otherwise bound and shall not bear any adhesive tape".

When filing annual returns with the CRO please do not send bound documents. This will reduce costs for the presenter and speed up processing time in the CRO.

Presenters are requested to ensure that cheques are signed, dated and STAPLED to the other documents - please do not use paper clips. Please also write the company number and document type on the back of the cheque. (eg B1 for Co.No. 123567).

Presenters are reminded to spell out the Companies Registration Office name in full on the cheque rather than abbreviate it to CRO and to cross the cheque.