District Court Application for Order Extending Time to File

Please note: A company must have legal representation in court.

 
Step One – Obtaining a Court Date and Completing the Court forms

• An application for a court date, through submitting a Form 93B.1, must first be made to the District Court in which the company’s registered office is situated.
  Click here to access the Court Services website.
• The Form 93B.1 must state the financial period in question, the company’s current Annual Return Date (ARD) and the date up to which the Court is asked to extend the time for delivery of the company’s Annual Return to the Registrar.
• Please note: The date at Paragraph 3 on the Form 93B.1 is the new extended date by which the company must deliver the Annual Return to the CRO in order to file on time. In choosing this date, the company must give itself sufficient time to deliver the Annual Return to the CRO, as only one Order can be made per Annual Return year. The date must be a date after the Court hearing and after the date of delivery of the Court Order to the Registrar.
• The time period which may be extended by the Court is the 56 days after the ARD provided for in Sections 343(2) and (3) of the Companies Act 2014. The Court is being asked to extend this period of 56 days and is not changing the ARD.
• The Form 93B.1 must be signed by the Applicant (an officer of the company) or by the Solicitor for the Applicant. It must include a statement that no previous Order has been made by the District Court under Sections 343(5) of the Companies Act 2014 in respect of the Annual Return year which is the subject of the application.

 
Step Two – Putting the Registrar on Notice & Letter from Registrar

• A copy of the Notice of Application (Form 93B.1) which contains the date and time of the Court hearing, must be served on the Registrar of Companies along with a copy of the company’s Affidavit (Form 93B.2), thereby putting the Registrar on notice in accordance with Section 343(5) of the Companies Act 2014.
• The Affidavit (Form 93B.2) is a supporting document outlining the reasons why the Court Order is being sought and must be sworn by a Director or Secretary of the Applicant company. The Affidavit is required to explain why it has not been possible to prepare the Annual Return and set out, and verify, any facts supporting the reasons why the return was not delivered to the Registrar on time.
• The Notice of Application (Form 93B.1) and the signed Affidavit (Form 93B.2), putting the Registrar on notice, must be delivered to the CRO at least 21 days before the date fixed for hearing the application in the Court.
• These Forms, when completed, should be sent to districtcourt@cro.ie.
• Following receipt of the Forms 93B.1 and 93B.2 in the CRO, a Letter will be issued by the Registrar to the presenter and copied to the District Court in question.
• The Registrar reserves the right to object to any application made to the District Court for an extension of time under Section 343(5) of the Companies Act 2014.
• The Registrar will object if any one of the following circumstances apply:
  (1) the Annual Return should have been delivered prior to 1st June 2015,
  (2) the reasons provided in the Affidavit and the supporting facts do not, in the opinion of the Registrar, explain or verify why it was not possible to deliver the Annual Return to the CRO within the time permitted by Sections 342(2) or 343(3) of the Companies Act 2014.
  (3) the applicant company is a dissolved company.
  (4) the company has previously obtained an extension of time for the same Annual Return year.
  (5) If the financial period noted in the Form 93 B.1 was relevant to an Annual Return which has already been filed with the CRO.

 
Step Three – Lodging papers with the District Court

• The Forms 93B.1 and 93B.2 must be lodged with the Court Clerk, along with a statutory declaration as to service on the Registrar and the Letter from the Registrar, not later than four days before the date fixed for hearing the application.

 
Step Four – The Court Hearing and granting of the Court Order

• Please note: A company must have legal representation in Court.
• The Registrar of Companies reserves the right to be represented in the District Court in any case where an application is made for an extension of time to file an Annual Return.
• If the Court grants an Order extending the time to file, the Order (Form 93B.3) will show:
  a) the new date to which the extension of time to file the Annual Return has been granted.
  b) the date by which the Court Order must be delivered to the CRO, this is normally 28 days after the court date.

 
Step Five – Delivering the Court Order and the Annual Return(s) to the CRO
If granted an Order extending the time to file, the company must:

• Deliver the Court Order (Form 93B.3) to the CRO within the period time provided in the Order. If the Court Order is not delivered to the CRO within this period provided, it will invalidate the Order.
• Complete the filing of the Form B1 by the extended date.

 
It should be noted that if the company delivers its Annual Return to the CRO electronically, after the date to which the extension has been granted, it will be deemed to be late and will be subject to late filing fees and loss of audit exemption (if applicable) the normal way.

If the original Court date is changed or the case is adjourned, the company must immediately inform the Registrar of the new Court date.

Please note: A company must have legal representation when making an application to court. The application is by means of an affidavit on notice to the Registrar.