Voluntary Company Strike Off
One of the main reasons why you may need to do a voluntary company strike off is that The Companies Act 2014 requires companies to file returns with the CRO on an annual basis. Therefore, if a company is no longer needed, it usually makes sense to apply to have it removed from the Register of Companies rather than continue to incur the costs associated with filing. Examples include companies that have ceased to trade or have never traded or where the directors want to re-establish the company in a different form.
Some company directors may be tempted to simply leave matters as they are – and allow the CRO to strike-off the company for failure to file annual returns. However, they are exposing themselves to the risk that, in the case of an involuntary strike-off, the Director of Corporate Enforcement may apply to the High Court to disqualify them from serving as directors in the future. More seriously, the CRO has recently commenced criminal prosecutions under the Companies Act 2014 against companies for late or non- filing of annual returns.
Schedule a call back to talk to one of our expert team about a Voluntary Company Strike Off.
How We Can Help
OmniPro can provide a cost-effective service to arrange for your company to be voluntarily struck off, including arranging for letters of no objection from revenue and advertising the regulation for the strike off to the public.
We can help unburden your client from the statutory filing requirements of a company that is no longer trading and have it removed from the register in an orderly, compliant manner. The Companies Act 2014 allows companies to be voluntarily struck from the Register of Companies, at the discretion of the Registrar, subject to several provisions.
These include the assets of the company not exceeding €150; its liabilities (including contingent and prospective liabilities) not exceeding €150; and all outstanding returns to the CRO and Revenue Commissioners being up to date. If the company meets the above criteria, the voluntary strike off process can be less cumbersome and less costly than liquidating the company (albeit the time period for future claims is significantly restricted if the company were to be liquidated).
Steps Involved in a Voluntary Write-Off
The timeframe for voluntary strike off can vary. There can be variations in time in receiving the letter of No Objection from the Revenue but usually the timeframe for a Voluntary Strike Off to be concluded is within six months. From the date your company is published in the Gazette your company will be dissolved within 90 days.
In a ‘standard’ Voluntary Strike Off, a number of steps must be followed:
- A board meeting is convened to consider the voluntary strike-off
- A Letter of No Objection is sought from Revenue
- On receipt of this letter, the company must advertise its intentions in a national newspaper
- The strike off application must be submitted to the Registrar of Companies within six weeks of the advertisement