With the new legislative changes coming into force on 18.12.2019, the Registrar of Companies aim is more strict control over the late submission of the company’s annual report (HE32). 

The submitting of the annual return requires the audited financial statements for the respective financial year. In the event the auditors did not finalise and provide the Financial Statement and this leads to overdue submission. The Registrar imposes fines as follow:

  • €50 for submissions after the 18.12.2019
  • €1 for each day after the 18.12.2019
  • €2 for each day for submissions delayed more than 6 months

*The maximum fine cannot exceed more than €500

With the current legislation the Annual Return fine is one time fine of €20 and the auditors were able to finalise financial statements up to 15 months after the end of the year, however with the new legislation that would limit the time to less than 12 months. Therefore, either many companies will pay fines, or the auditors will have to find a better way to support the process of submission of the Annual Return.