The reporting obligations to the entities referred to by the Deputy vary according to the type of incorporated body and the legislation relevant to each entity.
From a company law perspective, companies are required to file an annual return with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) comprising of a B1 annual return form and the financial statements, where applicable. In relation to the Register of Beneficial Ownership, an initial return is required providing details of beneficial ownership and any further return is dependent on subsequent changes to beneficial ownership details.
There are particular provisions in company law for small and/or micro companies in relation to audit exemption, the filing of abridged financial statements and the exemption from reporting on certain matters in the financial statements.
Requirements regarding the timing of reporting obligations to the various entities vary with, by way of example, the Revenue Commissioners operating a single tax deadline while the timing of the annual return to be filed with the CRO is in the main based on the date of original incorporation of the company. In addition, taxation is on a calendar year basis while a company’s financial statements are based on their own financial year which may or may not be a calendar year.
In the circumstances, it is not considered the case that an annual return filed with the CRO would necessarily meet the filing requirements of other entities. However, in relation to company law filing requirements, the CRO seeks to make the filing process as straightforward as possible. In this regard, the new CRO IT system that went live in December 2020 has streamlined the process for filing annual returns into a single 56 day period and has replaced the requirement for the filing of physical signature pages with an electronic filing alternative.
