How To Close A Company In Ireland

To close a Limited Company in Ireland, you must go through a “Voluntary Strike-Off.” This process involves holding a board meeting, completing paperwork from the Companies Registration Office (CRO) and Revenue, and filing up-to-date financial accounts with the CRO.  

Generally, it can take up to 3 months to get all paperwork together and an additional three months for your company to be fully closed, i.e. “dissolved”, once you have filed all the correct paperwork with the CRO and Revenue. 

1. Hold a Board meeting

At the board meeting, the directors must vote on closing the company.

This process can be done in person or remotely but must take place at least three months before you apply for Voluntary Strike-Off.

Usually, the company secretary takes the meeting minutes and prepares all the required paperwork, but you can outsource to a company secretarial service, like Accountant Online. We ensure the entire Strike-Off process is taken care of, providing peace of mind that it is done correctly.

By leveraging the perks of company secretary service, you benefit from the assurance that all regulatory procedures are handled with utmost precision, facilitating a smooth and compliant operation.

2. Fill in the Form G1-H15 & Form H15

If the vote to close the company has passed, then Form G1-H15 must be completed by one of the company directors to confirm that the board meeting took place and the directors have agreed to close the company. 

All directors need to sign Form H15, which confirms that the company is requesting Voluntary Strike Off.  

Please note that although we collect these at the start of the process, we can only send them to the CRO once we complete the following steps.

3. Ensure all Annual Return filings are up to date

The next step is to ensure that all your Annual Returns to the CRO are filed and updated. Use the CRO CORE Search Function to check your company’s Annual Return Date or talk to our Client Services Team about your situation, and we are happy to help. 

If you have never filed Annual Returns or missed your last Annual Return, you cannot proceed with the Voluntary Strike Off process until all missed Annual Returns are filed.  

Depending on your situation, this may be the most prolonged and most costly part of the process, so reach out to our Client Services Team as soon as possible so we can support you.  

4. Apply for a Letter Of No Objection from Revenue

A Letter Of No Objection states that the Irish Revenue Commissioner is satisfied that your company is up to date with its statutory filing requirements and has no objection to you closing your company.

Reasons why Revenue may object to your application for Voluntary Strike-Off, include an outstanding tax bill, unpaid late filing fees, or outstanding tax returns.

If you need help applying for a Letter of No Objection, rest assured that you can outsource this process to a professional. We have helped many companies to apply for this letter, and we can take care of this whole process for you.

5. Place a notice in a daily newspaper

Before we send your Voluntary Strike-Off application to the CRO, you must place an advertisement in a national daily newspaper stating your intention to close your company.

The advertisement should be published no more than 30 days before you submit your Voluntary Strike Off application, so all the previous steps must be completed before you place this notice in the newspaper.  

Once the advertisement is published, you need to keep the original cut-out of the strike-off notice, which will be included in the Voluntary Strike Off application to the CRO. 

The main thing to remember here is that this is a time-sensitive step and usually the last thing you do before you send all the paperwork to the CRO.  

6. Send all paperwork to the CRO

To complete the application, you need to gather the following documents, all of which should be sent to the CRO simultaneously and before your next Annual Return Date:

1. Complete Form G1-H15, signed by one of the directors and dated within three months of the application
2. Complete Form H15, signed by all the directors and dated within three months of the application
3. A PDF copy of the Letter Of No Objection from Revenue, dated within three months of the application
4. The original cut-out of the strike-off notice from a daily newspaper, dated within 30 days of the application

Please note that if you exceed your next Annual Return Date, you must submit the Annual Return and Financial Statements.