District Court Application FAQs

Yes. Applications can be made to the District Court in respect of an Annual Return which has missed its deadline or where it is envisaged that a return will be late.

However, an application for extra time to file can only be made to the District Court in respect of (a) an Annual Return which has not already been filed with the CRO and (b) where the Annual Return was due to be filed on or after 1st June 2015.

No, in that case the application for extra time must be made to the High Court. The Registrar will object to any application made in the District Court for an extension of time to file an Annual Return that was due to be delivered to the CRO prior to 1st June 2015.

You must nominate a date (paragraph 3 on the Form 93B.1) that is into the future and must be after the Court Hearing date and after the date allowed for the delivery of the Order to the Registrar. As a company cannot go back to the Court for a second Order for the same financial period, the company must ensure that it will definitely be in a position to file its Annual Return by the date it applies for.

The CRO must receive and register the Court Order (Form 93B.3) before it receives the outstanding Annual Return(s). So, when applying to the Court, the extended date on the Form 93B.1 should be a date that will enable the company to deliver the Annual Return and financial statements to the CRO in good time before the new deadline.

No, the extension of time relates to the 56 days after a company’s Annual Return Date (ARD). It extends those 56 days for that year only and does not change the ARD for future years.

You can include multiple years for which Annual Returns are outstanding in an application to the District Court where the returns were due to be filed after the commencement of the Companies Act 2014 (1st June 2015).

However, where a return was due to be filed before 1st June 2015, the application must be made to the High Court.

You can only apply to the Court once for a particular financial period, as in you cannot apply to the Court again for another Order in respect of a return for which an Order has already been granted.

These forms are issued by the Courts Service, and are available on their Forms page.

A struck off/dissolved company does not have a legal existence until such time that it is restored to the Register.

It is the view of the Companies Registration Office that a dissolved company cannot make an application to the Court under Section 343 of the Companies Act 2014 to extend time to file its Annual Returns as it has no legal standing to make such an application.

The Registrar will object to any application in the District Court for an extension of time to file an Annual Return that is made by a dissolved company.

The legislation relating to District Court Applications is S.I. No. 256/2015 – District Court (Companies Act 2014) Rules 2015.