Business

Registrar of Companies wants High Court to quash second-time extensions for filing annual returns

Court told District Court lacks jurisdiction to further extend time via second orders

The Registrar of Companies has brought two High Court actions aimed at quashing District Court decisions granting companies further time to file their annual returns. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien

Aodhan O'Faolain
Mon Feb 19 2024 - 17:12

The Registrar of Companies has brought two High Court actions aimed at quashing District Court decisions granting companies further time to file their annual returns.

The registrar, who is responsible for maintaining accurate and up-to-date company records, said companies can ask the District Court for a 28-day time extension for filing their annual returns to the Companies Registration Office (CRO).

Here, the registrar says, two unrelated firms secured extentions and then second extensions from the District Court. The registrar alleges the District Court lacks the jurisdiction to further extend time via second orders.

It is alleged Kitchen Innovations Limited successfully applied to the District Court in Galway for a second time extension and Greenay Ltd secured such an order from the Dublin Metropolitan District Court.

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The registrar’s lawyers say any returns filed by the firms on foot of those second orders have not been legally registered.

Represented by Brian Conroy SC, with John Freeman, the registrar has brought proceedings against the two companies aimed at setting aside the orders granting them second extensions for the same returns period.

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Only one order extending time can be made in respect of a particular returns period, the applicant claims.

In its judicial review proceedings against the companies, the official seeks various orders, including one quashing the District Court’s orders extending time for the two firms to file annual returns for the periods between 2021 and 2022.

The applicant also wants the court to declare that any return provided by the companies on foot of the District Court orders is deemed not to have been delivered within the periods provided for in the 2014 Companies Act.

The applicant further seeks a declaration that any returns sent to it by the companies on foot of the District Court’s orders have not been lawfully registered and should be removed from the register of companies.

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Both cases came before the High Court on an ex-parte basis (only the applicant was represented) on Monday.

Ms Justice Niamh Hyland permitted the registrar to bring the challenges and adjourned the matter to a date next month.

Annual returns, which contain various financial and other relevant information about a company, are filed with the CRO which makes them available for public viewing.

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The filing of annual returns is mandatory.

Failure to file such documents on time, or at all, can have negative consequences for firms, including being struck off the register.

Every year thousands of companies are struck off, but the court heard that due to the Covid-19 pandemic all enforcement activity by the applicant, including strike-offs for failure to file annual returns on time, was suspended.

This suspension was lifted last October, and involuntary strike-off of companies from the register for non-filing of annual returns is due to occur shortly, the applicant claims.

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