In light of the COVID-19 crisis and to ease pressure on companies who are due to submit their Annual Returns, the Company Registrations Office (CRO) have decided to postpone the filing deadline. The Government body has also announced the closure of its offices but that online submissions will continue.

New Annual Return Date

In normal circumstances every company must file their Annual Return document within 28 days of their 'Annual Return Date' (ARD) however, as of this week the CRO will ensure that any company with an ARD between now and 30th June will be deemed to have filed on time if all elements of the annual return are submitted by that date. This date also applies to any Annual Return signature pages that are due to be submitted. Companies can continue to follow the normal filing procedure by capturing the B1 Form, upload financial statements, pay the fee, submit online and send the signature page to the CRO by close of business on 30th June.

The CRO also added that it is important for any company who is in a position to submit their Annual Return in the usual timeframe to do so and although there will be a delay with document processing everything that is received will be date stamped, queued and processed in due course.

CRIF Vision-net Scoring

This extension will mean that your Company's CRIF Vision-net score will not be affected if your original filing date falls within this period and you have not filed your Annual Return, this new date is now being treated as your new Annual Return Date.

CRO Offices Closed But Online Submissions Still Open

The CRO have closed their offices until further notice in compliance with Government restrictions, however post will be received in their offices from 02/04/2020 in Dublin and 06/04/2020 in Carlow. Any physical post sent to their offices will be date stamped and stored for processing. All physical scanning of documents and submissions will be postponed until further notice. However the online filing facility through Core.ie remains operational for companies to submit documents, such as B10's Change of Director and C1's Mortgage and Charge documents. Any online submissions like these documents will also be updated on the Vision-net.ie service as normal.

Possible Extension

The date of 30th June will be kept under review as the current situation evolves and it may be extended if the CRO deem it necessary. CRIF Vision-net will ensure to notify you in a future Business Barometer of any extensions or changes as they occur.

For more information follow this link, or if CRIF Vision-net can be of any help Call: 01 903 2660 or Email: Helpdesk.vision-net@crif.com