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Annual Return Date
The Company Law Enforcement Act, 2001 introduced an Annual
Return Date (ARD) for each company that is obliged to file an annual
return. This came into effect from March 1st 2002 i.e. for your 2002
annual return. The ARD is a specific date in every year to which a company
is obliged to make up its annual return. It has no connection with the
date on which the AGM is held, and may precede the AGM. Since March 1st
2002, a company will be obliged to file its annual return not later
than 28 days after the date to which the annual return has been made up.
How Will the ARD be Determined?
The ARD will be the anniversary of the company's most
recent annual return date. If a company has not yet filed an annual return
the ARD will be:
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in the case of a company incorporated before March 1st
2002, the first day after that date that is six months after the date
on which the anniversary of incorporation falls
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in the case of a company incorporated after March 1st
2002, six months after the date of incorporation (no accounts are
required to be filed with the first annual return in this case)
Nine
Month Rule
The date to which accounts are made up must not predate
the ARD by more than nine months. In order to comply with this rule,
companies may have to change their ARD. There are two ways to do this:
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Move ARD to an earlier date by filing an annual
return made up to that earlier date, this will then become the ARD
-
move ARD to a later date by filing an annual return
made up to the ARD with no accounts attached and applying on the
prescribed form to designate a new ARD (this can be done once in the
first year and thereafter no more than once every five years).
A further notice relating to the annual return date will
issue nearer to the date of its commencement.
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