Irish Company Compliance Checklist — What You Must File Every Year

1. CRO Annual Return (B1)

Due within 56 days of your Annual Return Date (ARD). Every Irish limited company must file this with the Companies Registration Office each year. Late filing triggers €100 immediately plus €3 per day up to €1,200, and loss of audit exemption (check cro.ie for current amounts).

2. Corporation Tax Return (CT1)

Due 9 months after the end of your accounting period (e.g. for a 31 December year-end, the CT1 is due by 23 September of the following year for online filing). Filed with Revenue via ROS (Revenue Online Service).

Preliminary tax: small companies (prior-year corporation tax of up to €200,000) pay one instalment about 31 days before the accounting period ends (90% of the current-year liability or 100% of the prior-year liability). Companies with prior-year corporation tax over €200,000 pay two instalments, at month 6 and month 11. Check Revenue for current rules.

3. VAT Returns

If your company is VAT-registered, you must file VAT3 returns — monthly, bimonthly, or annually depending on your Revenue-assigned filing frequency. Bimonthly is the most common. Returns and payments are due by the 19th of the month following the period end (or 23rd for online filing via ROS).

Annual filers must also file a VAT Return of Trading Details (RTD) summarising the year's supplies and purchases.

4. PAYE/PRSI Employer Obligations

Under PAYE Modernisation, Irish employers report payroll in real time — each pay run must be submitted to Revenue via a Payroll Submission Request (PSR) on or before the payment date. Monthly P30 payments are due by the 23rd of the following month for online filers.

An annual Employer's P35 return has been replaced by the cumulative PSR submissions under PAYE Modernisation.

5. Board Meeting Minutes

The Companies Act 2014 requires Irish companies to keep adequate and correct records of all general meetings and board decisions. Board minutes must be maintained at the registered office or another approved location and available for inspection. There is no prescribed format, but minutes must record decisions made, resolutions passed, and who was present.

6. GDPR Obligations

If your company processes personal data, you have ongoing GDPR obligations under EU Regulation 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act 2018. Key annual obligations include:

• Review and update your Privacy Notice and Cookie Policy
• Audit data processing activities and update your Article 30 Record of Processing Activities (ROPA)
• Review data processor agreements with third-party suppliers
• Ensure your DSAR (data subject access request) response process works within one month of receipt
• Test your data breach response procedure — DPC notification within 72 hours if required

7. Audit Exemption and Financial Statements

Small private limited companies can claim the audit exemption under Section 358 of the Companies Act 2014 if they meet at least two of: turnover of €15m or less, balance sheet total of €7.5m or less, no more than 50 employees (section 280A(3), as amended by S.I. 301 of 2024). If you qualify, you file unaudited abridged accounts with your CRO B1. Loss of exemption (e.g. due to late CRO filing) means a mandatory statutory audit for the two financial years immediately succeeding the relevant year (section 363).

8. Registered office and directors

• Maintain a registered office address in the Republic of Ireland
• At least one director must be a European Economic Area (EEA) resident, or you must hold a bond of €25,000 (section 137(2)), or alternatively obtain a certificate of real and substantial connection with a Member State (section 140)
• Notify the CRO of any change to directors, secretary, or registered address within 14 days using the appropriate form (B10 for directors, B2 for address)