Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 May 2018
241. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if she has taken into consideration the peak-time filing deadline of 28 October each year that clashes with the revenue income tax returns deadline of 14 November 2018 and the consequences for accountants with regard to the role of the accountant in assisting the vast majority of companies with their statutory filings. [20198/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra242. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if a sizeable number of applications made on notice to the Registrar of Companies for the section 343 waiver has raised the mental health issues of accountancy practitioners in dealing with a highly stressful environment of satisfying the statutory requirements and meeting deadlines with taxation and CRO matters. [20199/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 241 and 242 together.
Companies can have an annual return date of up to 9 months after their financial year end. Thereafter companies have up to 28 days to file their annual return with the Registrar of Companies and up to a further 28 days to file their accompanying financial statements.
These are final deadlines and therefore it is open to companies, and their accountants where they engage such a service, to submit this information at any time before this date. In this way it is possible for companies and their accountants to manage the deadlines facing them with regard to their statutory obligations.
Furthermore, I am proposing to simplify the filing process further in the Companies (Statutory Audits) Bill 2017 by changing the current two-step process to a single step and giving companies up to 56 days to file their annual return and financial statements. This means a company with a 31 December year end can file its annual return and financial statements any time before 26 November.
Where a company makes an application to the Court for extension of time to file an annual return it may include any information it considers is relevant to the application on the affidavit to the Court. It is a matter for the Court to determine the cases brought before it under section 343 of the Companies Act. The Registrar of Companies does not collate information in relation to accountancy practitioners on the basis set out in the Deputy’s question.
