Annual Company Tax Return – €250

Irish resident companies and non-resident companies who trade in Ireland through a branch or agency pay Corporation Tax (CT) on the taxable profits they make.

Corporation Tax is levied on all companies tax resident in Ireland. A company is deemed to be tax resident here if it was incorporated in Ireland on or after 1 January 2015.

Corporation Tax is charged on the profits in a company’s accounting period no longer than 12 months. These profits include both income and capital gains.

There are two rates of Corporation Tax (CT):

• 12.5% for trading income, and
• 25% for income from an excepted trade, non trading income, for example rental and investment income.

A company must file its return nine months after the end of the accounting period. The company must make this payment on or before the 23^rd of the ninth month.

For example, if a company's financial year ends on the 31st December 2020, it must file and pay by the 23rd September 2021.

A company must use the Revenue Online Service (ROS) to file its return  under Mandatory eFiling and ePayment.

There are 2 payments required to discharge the corporation tax liability of a company:

1) Preliminary Corporation tax (90%) - due 31 days before the end of the company's financial year and before the 23^rd of that month.

and

2) Balance of Corporation Tax (10%)- due on or before the 23^rd of the ninth month after the end of the company's financial year.

For example, if a company's year ends on the 31st December 2020, the company must pay:

• Preliminary Corporation tax (90%) - due 23^rd November 2020, and
• Balance of Corporation Tax (10%) - due 23^rd  September 2021.

 if a company's financial year ends on the 31st December 2020, it must file and pay by the 23rd September 2021.

A company must use the Revenue Online Service (ROS) to file its return  under Mandatory eFiling and ePayment.

Companies whose tax liability is not above €200,000 in the previous accounting period, can pay their preliminary tax as lower of:

• 90% of their CT liability for the current period (a top up payment to be made next year) or
• 100% of their CT liability for the previous accounting period.

New or start-up companies do not have to pay preliminary tax for their first accounting period if they have Corporation Tax that is less than €200,000. Instead, they must pay their final CT charge for the first accounting period when submitting their CT return.

Companies that fail to pay and file electronically must submit their return and pay any associated tax. These companies must pay this tax on or before the 21^st of the month.

Interest is due at a daily rate of 0.0219% on late payments or payments that are not made in full. 

If the company sends the return after the deadline they will also have to pay a surcharge of 5% to 10% of the tax due.

If the company sends the return after the deadline there will be restrictions on certain reliefs claimed:

• excess capital allowance on equipment purchased, and
• loss relief.