Account warning to firms

THE head of the Companies Registration Office said firms that fail to file their accounts promptly will be struck off or face more serious consequences.

Paul Farrell, the companies registrar, said that the CRO has developed new software that will allow it to identify businesses that repeatedly fail to file accounts on time and incur penalties.

"We'll be using software we have developed to identify the companies that are consistently filing their returns late, or not at all and will be targeting them with one or more of the more serious penalties open to us," Mr Farrell said.

The companies office said average compliance with regulations was up to 84% last year from 75% in 2002 with 12,000 extra companies filing annual returns.

However, the CRO netted €28 million in late filing penalties last year, up from €12m in 2002.

"This marked rise can be explained in large part by our strike-off regime during 2003 whereby an average of 50% of those companies listed for strike-off filed their returns and incurred substantial late filing penalties.

"However, there is also a troubling trend underlying these figures. While most companies that have paid late filing penalties have paid it once, a sizeable number have paid more than one penalty," Mr Farrell said.

The CRO has several weapons in its arsenal to ensure companies file annual returns on a regular basis. It can issue on-the-spot fines, strike off companies from the register (which means their lose their limited liability status), prosecute the company or its directors and seek a High Court application directing the company to file the returns.