KomSec Limited will be closed from 03.04.2026 to 06.04.2026 inclusive.
Enjoy the Easter break and try not to eat too many Easter eggs!
Already this year the Registrar of Beneficial Ownership has brought prosecutions for failure to file beneficial ownership information with the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership before the Dublin District Court. The consequences for non-compliance can be severe and can attract a fine of up to €5,000 on summary conviction and up to €500,000 on indictment (and/or imprisonment). In 2024 (the latest up to date official figures available) 31 cases came before the District Court. 11 entities were convicted and fined and 20 entities pleaded guilty and had the Probation Act applied. Based on the number of prosecutions since just the start of this year, it seems certain that these numbers will be far exceeded in 2026.
As well as the risk of prosecution, the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act 2021 requires all ‘designated persons’ (e.g., banks, financial institutions etc) to inspect the Register of Beneficial Ownership as part of their customer due diligence before establishing a business relationship with a customer. They are obliged to report any discrepancies and non-compliance to the Registrar. Again the expectation is that the issuance of Discrepancy Notices will increase significantly this year.
KomSec can help and advise you on everything your company needs to be and remain compliant with Beneficial Ownership, allowing you to avoid Discrepancy Notices and possible prosecution.
A Board should challenge itself, and its Management Team. It should actively review, question, explore potential flaws, exploit current and future potential of the Company. The greatest threat faced by any Company is not political or economic but, complacency. Having a diverse Board should be a key tool to ensure complacency does not exist or creep into a company structure unseen or, unchallenged.
Board Diversity should embrace all diversity in order to maximise its own potential, for example:
Appointing an individual simply to “fit” whatever is the current hot topic for Board Diversity is insulting to the individual, and an utter waste of time for the Board, Management and the Company itself.
Boards must willingly embrace the concept of diversity in all its guises, and support the individual Directors, and the Company adapt to the change in Board dynamics.
Board diversity is for the long haul, there are no shortcuts but, like anything that is hard work the results should be worth waiting for.
Update your diary with key dates for the year.
February
After the long wait for February to arrive the month will be over before you know it!
March
Accountants / Auditors – ensure preparation of your company’s financial statements are in their work diary so can comply with statutory requirements and deadlines later in the year.
April
Easter egg to buy, hide and munch!
May
Bank holiday – enjoy!
June
School exams / school ends – phew, cannot believe all the school angst is finally over!
July
Holiday season – time to take stock and sort out professional commitments and goals.
August
Annual General Meeting (AGM) – convene AGM which can be held in person, virtually, combination of both or, by way of written resolution.
September
23rd September – deadline to pay Corporation Tax.
30th September – Annual Return Date (ARD) for bulk of companies.
October
31st October – deadline to file Personal Tax Return.
November
25th November deadline to file 30th September Annual Return.
Ensure you top up Company pension by 31st December.
December
Order turkey, buy presents. Then start your worklist ready to start the year all over again
Compliance Calendar for Charities to help with Annual Reporting in 2026
Charities have an obligation to complete and file an online annual report with the Charities Regulator within 10 months of their financial year-end. For the majority of charities, their year-end is 31 December which means their annual report is due on or before the 31 October.
January
Time to start preparing your charity’s financial accounts for 2025. If you are using the services of a third party, such as an accountant, to prepare these accounts reach out to them now. Check what information they need and when.
Agree on a date for the board meeting when the accounts will be approved by the charity trustees. The accounts will need to be ready ahead of the meeting so they can be circulated to the trustees to give them the opportunity to review them.
Make sure to notify whoever is preparing your accounts (especially if you are using the services of a third party) of the date the accounts need to be ready for circulation and inform them. You might want to remind them that it is an offence for a charity to file its annual report late to the Charities Regulator, so it’s important to meet the deadline.
April
Draft financial accounts for 2025 are ready and circulated to all trustees of the charity.
May
Draft financial accounts are reviewed at the board meeting and approved by the charity trustees. If charity trustees have questions on the accounts that need to be clarified or are seeking further details, approval of the accounts can be deferred to the next meeting so the necessary information can be obtained and shared with charity trustees.
June
Financial accounts for 2025 are approved by the board. Begin to draft the annual report on finances and activities for the Charities Regulator.
August /September
Ahead of September board meeting, circulate the draft annual report to the charity trustees for their review.
September
Charity trustees review and approve the annual report to be submitted to the Charities Regulator. The report is now ready to be submitted. However, if further discussion is required, the decision to approve can be deferred to the October board meeting.
October
The report is submitted to the Charities Regulator.
Remember that if a Charity does not file its annual report on time it could ultimately be removed from the Charities Register and prosecuted in the district court.
2026 KEY DATES – important and not so important ones!
January 2026
01.01.2026 New Year’s Day – last chance to relax before going back to work
05.01.2026 Congrats! You made it back to work
08.01.2026 Earth Rotation Day – Keep spinning!
28.01.2026 Global International Data Protection – yes, more GDPR!
January Make sure you have set up dates for all quarterly board meetings during 2026
February 2026
05.02.2026 Six Nations Rugby France v Ireland
11.02.2026 International Women & Girls in Science
March 2026
17.03.2026 St. Patricks Day – everyone is happy to be seen in public with green face paint!
20.03.2026 Local Property Tax deadline – if paying full amount in one go
30.03.2026 Mother’s Day – do not give her flowers bought at the petrol station on the way home!
March Quarterly Board Meeting time
April 2026
05.04.2026 Easter Day
06.04.2026 No groaning – you knew what you were doing when you ate all those chocolate Easter eggs!
April Audit – make sure someone is actively managing the Audit which includes telling the Auditors!
May 2026
04.05.2026 Bank Holiday – May Day
09.05.2026 Europe Day
June 2026
03.06.2026 Bank Holiday
21.06.2026 Father’s Day – see Mother’s Day advice above!
23.06.2026 Lewis Capaldi in Marlay Park
26.06.2026 The Cure in Marlay Park (if Lewis Capaldi doesn’t do it for you!)
July 2026
01.07.2026 Ireland take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union
19.07.2026 World Cup Final – Ireland playing – we can dream!
August 2026
03.08.2026 Bank Holiday
26.08.2026 International Dog Day – paws for thought!
September 2026
18.09.2026 Culture Night- visit Cork City Hall or the Mansion House in Dublin
30.09.2026 Annual Return Date for the bulk of companies – panic or call us!
September Quarterly Board Meeting time
October 2026
01.10.2026 Breast Cancer Awareness month
28.10.2026 Annual Return – deadline for electronic filing. This is it, now or never…… FILE!
31.10.2026 Spooky time!
November 2026
08.11.2025 International Tongue Twister Day – she sells sea shells on the seashore…
13.11.2026 Friday the 13th …….. you have been warned!
November Charity Trustee’s Week
December 2026
24.12.2026 Santa Claus is coming – I hope you are on the good list!
25.12.2026 Make sure the oven is on, and the turkey is in!
December Quarterly Board Meeting time
01.01.2027 Here we go again!
Newly incorporated companies often struggle to open a bank account until they’ve completed all required filings with the Registry of Beneficial Ownership — even though they technically have five months from incorporation to do so.
More and more financial institutions are now treating beneficial ownership information as a key part of their due-diligence process. That means existing companies shouldn’t delay filing, nor should they overlook the need to keep their beneficial ownership details current.
Consider this your heads-up!
9th Charity Trustees’ Week
10 – 14 November 2025
The Charities Regulatory Authority is hosting Trustees’ Week in conjunction with Boardmatch Ireland, Carmichael, Charities Institute Ireland, Dóchas, Pobal, The Wheel and Volunteer Ireland this year and is well worth checking out.
Marking its ninth anniversary, this initiative offers events and complimentary resources to honor the vital work and commitment by Trustees who generously volunteer their time and hard work for over 11,000 charities in Ireland.
Check out their calendar of free events and use the hashtag:#TrusteesWeekIrl if you’re on social media.
We have seen some instances of intentionally false statutory forms being filed in the Companies Registration Office (CRO). In one instance, the falsely filed statutory form attempted to appoint an individual as director of a company.
Why is it false? Simply, the individual being appointed “director” has no relationship whatsoever with the company, and the form is filed without the consent or knowledge of the company.
One reason for trying to pass an individual off as a Director of a company could be to give tat “false director” a perceived legitimacy to support fraudulent activities such as financial fraud or even human trafficking.
We all think it cannot happen to us but, it does! KomSec maintains a watch list on all our clients so that we know immediately when a filing is made for a client company. That triggers an immediate check to ensure the filing is legitimate and, in those rare instances where it is not, enables us help our clients to be pro-active, notify the CRO and preserve the company’s filing integrity.
A More Forgiving Approach to Late Filings
Good news! As of July 16, 2025, the rules around audit exemptions for small and micro companies in Ireland are changing. Previously, a single late filing of your annual return could automatically strip away your audit exemption, leading to significant extra costs and administrative burden.
Now, under the new Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Act 2024, this will no longer be the case for a first-time late filing within a five-year period.
Why the Change? Easing the Burden on SMEs
Minister Peter Burke highlighted that losing an audit exemption due to a late filing can have a “disproportionate impact” on small businesses. The costs associated with providing two years of audited financial statements can be substantial. This new measure aims to ease the burden on our vital SME sector, reducing paperwork and regulatory obligations while still emphasising the importance of timely filings.
What Does This Mean for Your Business?
Let’s break down the key points of Section 22 of the new Act, which replaces Section 363 of the Companies Act 2014:
Are You a ‘Small Company’?
Just a reminder of how a ‘small company’ is defined under the 2014 Act (you need to meet two or more of these criteria):
Retaining Fees, Reducing Penalties
It’s important to note that late-filing fees will still apply in all cases of overdue annual returns. However, this new approach prevents small businesses from being hit with the double whammy of late fees and the significant costs of losing their audit exemption for a one-off slip-up.
This is a sensible change that acknowledges the realities of running a small business and provides a bit more flexibility while still encouraging compliance.
