In Mess: Late ARN & Voluntary Vs Involuntary Strike off - Need Honest Help!

Hi, First time posting here, but having read the great and advice help folks get here, I thought I should try to help with my predicament. I will be as brief and succinct as I can ....

I incorporated a small start up in 2012, sent in first CRO Return that April. All fine. But Business stopped making money around Sept 2013. I had to bite the bullet and go on Social Welfare.

Given that I was a director there was quite alot of paperwork via Revenue to prepare to enable me to be eligible for Welfare. This ranged from Tax Clearance, Tax Returns, CT1's the works. But Revenue were brilliantly helpful, and after all was done, the officer said I had "Text Book Tax Records". One other valuable piece of advice I received by them was that they advised me that if I had not made money across 2014, or 2015, then just work out when you last made money, and list the business as ceased trading from this time (Sept 2013) retrospectively, which I didn't know you could do. This way, I would not need to pay to get an accountant to prepare either two years of accounts and / or pay for an audit! After all, it would have been an expense to get them to write two years worth of 00's in an excel sheet, wouldn't it ...

Then I got a very threatening letter from the CRO stating that I was liable for a late filing penalty for missing the AR for 2014 and 2015! It's a mistake and oversight I know alot of people make, but there I was with clean-as-a-whistle Tax Records with Revenue and then I got hit with this bad thump! The Letter stated that I was eligible to be Struck off and Dissolved and a conviction and a penalty along with aforementioned filing fees of up to 1200 Euro. I know at this stage that I have accrued a hefft bill either way for the late AR's ...

So, the question I have is: Having spent the last two days reading up on the differences (and consequences) of either Voluntary and Involuntary Strike off ... I wanted to know if anyone here could suggest the best course of action for my particular circumstances:

Option 1: The voluntary Strike Off Route : Go through the expense of paying for an Accountant to prepare accounts, and then an Audit, and then file all the other CRO forms including the B1's, along with paying of the late penalties - this would total at least 1500/2000.

Option 2: The Involuntary Strike Off Route: Do nothing and let the business die and get Involuntarily struck off. This was suggested to me to do if I have no interest in resuscitating this business. But I know I risk both a court conviction in the Court, and afraid of being prevented from starting a new enterprise in the future. I was also told that there are thousands of companies go through this route every year, and the Court and CRO simply do not have the resources to chase everyone. But I can be pretty unlucky at times ... !

I also want to state that the business has no debts, no assets or liabilities, or no loans. It's zero's across the board in this case, and in the scheme of things, I don't think this is a big bad nasty case .....

All I want to know is can I go into business again, assume a new directorship, incorporate a new company in the future - if I went with the second option ? And how bad my standing will be if I did not go through the entire process involved with Option 1?

Cheers, I hope someone can offer some help and direction, as this is really stressing me right out.
Ocho

while I have little sympathy for you for having ignored the CRO correspondence which comes out 5 to 6 weeks before your ARD or what ever it is, have you tried appealing the fines with there CRO, setting out your stall and showing them revenue closure etc.
If u have to pay for the two audits and the like and pay the fines, why not jut keep the company ticking over, simple ROS filing and CRO filing 20 euro

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my posting.

My ROS records are all up to date, and have consistently always been so over the course of the life of the business.

I did not ignore CRO correspondence - I received no correspondence last year, only this recent letter of enforcement. My filing with Revenue where I stated I ceased trading as of Sept 2013, gave me the belief that I did not have to file any AR with CRO. A very common mistake many people are making.

You are saying appeal with CRO? I would like to think I could, but the officer I got was cold and inflexible, offering little advice or direction. Hence my coming here ....

Are you suggesting I pay for the two audits, and pay the fines? I obviously would want to avoid the worst case scenario, for my future business prospects, as you can understand.

Your choice is simple either pay for the audits and the late filing fees or let the company get struck off.

You can make the case all you want the rules are there every director should know them.

Personally I think this loss of the audit exemption is excessively penal for otherwise compliant companies. There should be a 28 day notice period after the ARD when the CRO writes to the company to say it has not filed a return and should do so within 14 days. Each company should get one chance every 5 years.

Thank you for your reply and posting Joe_90.

It is the option of being involuntarily being struck off that has me the most concerned, and what I am most in the dark about. It is the EXACT consequences of being struck off that I am looking for honest information on, and peoples experiences of this : i.e. what happened after they were struck off? Where they taken to court? Were their fines even more severe? Were they convicted?

And also - were they barred from starting and incorporating with a new enterprise after they were involuntarily struck off? These are things that are difficult to find frank information on.


Thanks.

You can now apply to the District Court to have your 'lost' audit exemption restored.

See here: [broken link removed]

This is a new procedure and I haven't yet seen how it operates. That said, it seems the way to go as it will easily be more economical than having audits completed.

Ps. Your source in the Revenue office was crazy to tell you that you could forego accountancy advice in the first instance. At the very least, any accountant could have briefed you on your CRO filing obligations for a modest fee, and saved you all this bother.

Thank you very much for your suggestion, T McGibney, I appreciate.

So, I could give the District Court a call and enquire about this procedure, and see if I can avail of it ?

Presumably, this won't halt the penalties that have accrued ?

So, best case is that I file my B1's for the last two years (20Euros Each), and pay an accountant to do my figures (which will show zero's across those two years anyway), and then pay the penalties .... ?

Thanks.

Hi Tommy,

I've not seen the section in action but I'd be surprised if in the reasons why part of the application the "I did not know I had to file an annual return" reason would wash.

Thank you for your input, Joe_90, but that "reason" you cited of "I did not know I had to file an annual return" would not form the basis any part of any possible enquiry into whether one could seek audit exemption or not. I retrospectively registered as "ceased trading" from Sept 2013 upon advice from the Revenue itself (through whom I have kept a consistent and regular Tax Record through my ROS account).

From speaking to numerous people over the past few days, it has become clear that the gap between the Rev and CRO is indeed an wide one - exasperated by the fact that they clearly do not communicate. Testament to this fact, is that many have whistle-clean Tax Records, with small oversights with the CRO causing much financial pain and distress.

Yet again, the small honest man takes the hit and suffers because of illogical legislation, applied in an unspecific and general manner across both large companies and small ones. Striking with a "One-Sized Bat" it seems, but with the small entities unable to absorb its strike, but where a larger entity can. Why a small business with zero revenue must take a hit of the same magnitude that a larger company would with millions, is a logic that escapes me. And with no easily identifiable recourse available to the small business owner, either it seems.

Anyway ... I digress. Thank you so far, for everyone's input and help.