Company Restoration After Strike-Off: Getting Back on the Register
Struck off the CRO register? Learn the difference between administrative restoration on Form H1 within 12 months and High Court restoration within 20 years.
- Author
- Abbey Blue Formations
- Published
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- 7 min read
Discovering that your company has been struck off is an unpleasant surprise, and it usually arrives at the worst possible moment — when a bank freezes an account, when a customer runs a company search, or when you go to file something and find the company no longer exists.
The good news is that company restoration in Ireland is possible. The bad news is that the route available to you, and its cost, depends almost entirely on how long ago the company was dissolved.
Twelve months is the line that matters. On one side of it sits a paperwork exercise. On the other sits a High Court application.
Why Companies Get Struck Off
Strike-off happens in two ways.
Voluntary strike-off is a deliberate closure, applied for by the directors when a company has ceased trading and meets the statutory conditions. We cover that process in how to close an Irish company.
Involuntary strike-off is the one that catches people out. The Registrar can strike a company off for failure to file annual returns, or at the request of Revenue where required statements have not been delivered. This is what happens to a company that has been quietly neglected — a dormant entity nobody filed for, or a business where the returns slipped during a difficult year.
Once dissolved, the company ceases to exist as a legal entity. Its assets vest in the State, its bank accounts become inaccessible, and it can no longer contract, sue or be sued.
Route One: Administrative Restoration Within 12 Months
If less than twelve months have passed since dissolution, you can apply directly to the Registrar. This is by far the faster and cheaper route.
The application
Restoration is applied for on Form H1 under section 737 of the Companies Act 2014, with a CRO filing fee of €300. Check the CRO's filing fees page for the current amount before paying, and note that payment methods for restoration applications are restricted — cheques are not accepted.
Critically, the form must be received no later than the day before the twelve-month anniversary of the dissolution. Miss that by a day and administrative restoration is gone.
What must accompany it
- All outstanding annual returns, with the financial statements required to be annexed to them. These must relate to individual financial years and cannot be amalgamated across several years.
- The filing fee for each return, plus the applicable late filing penalties.
- Written confirmation from Revenue that they have no objection to the company being restored.
- Form B2 where the registered office address has changed.
- Where the company was struck off at Revenue's request, written confirmation from Revenue that all outstanding statements under section 882 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 have been delivered.
Any amendments required to submitted documents must be completed within fifteen months of dissolution. Miss that window and you are into a court application.
The effect
A company administratively restored under section 737 is deemed by the Act to have continued in existence as if its name had never been struck off. The gap closes completely.
Route Two: High Court Restoration (12 Months to 20 Years)
Once more than twelve months have elapsed, administrative restoration by the Registrar is no longer possible. Provided twenty years have not passed since dissolution, an application can be made to the High Court under section 738 of the Companies Act 2014.
Who can apply
The company itself or any member may apply where the company was struck off voluntarily. Where the company was struck off for non-filing of annual returns, or at Revenue's request, any officer or member may apply. A creditor who feels aggrieved by the strike-off may also apply.
What is involved
A restoration application must be made on notice to three parties, each with its own procedural requirements before it will issue a letter of no objection:
- the Registrar of Companies
- the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
- the Revenue Commissioners
In practice this means legal representation, a solicitor instructing counsel, court fees, and the same underlying compliance work — every outstanding annual return and set of financial statements still has to be brought up to date. The CRO itself advises obtaining legal advice for any proposed court restoration.
The resulting court order must then be filed with the CRO within the period specified.
Owners' management companies
Different rules apply to owners' management companies, which can apply on Form H1-OMC within six years of dissolution. If the dissolution is within one year, the ordinary Form H1 route is simpler.
The Real Cost Is Rarely the Filing Fee
Whichever route applies, the restoration application sits on top of the compliance backlog that caused the strike-off in the first place. Every missed annual return must be filed, with financial statements for each individual year and the late filing penalties that have accrued against each one.
For a company struck off after two or three years of missed returns, that backlog is usually the dominant cost — often several times the restoration fee itself.
This is also why prevention is so much cheaper than cure. A company secretarial service that tracks your annual return date, or ongoing bookkeeping support that keeps financial statements current, costs a fraction of restoring a struck-off company.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to restore a struck off company in Ireland?
It depends entirely on the route. Administrative restoration is a CRO filing process, so the timeline is driven by how quickly you can assemble the outstanding annual returns, financial statements and the Revenue letter of no objection, plus the CRO's own processing time. High Court restoration is measured in months rather than weeks, because it requires notice to three separate bodies, each with its own clearance process, before the matter reaches court. In both cases, the preparation of overdue accounts is usually the longest single element.
My company was struck off — is it gone permanently, and what happened to its assets?
The company ceases to exist as a legal entity on dissolution, and any assets it still held vest in the State. That is not necessarily permanent: restoration within the statutory windows brings the company back, and a company administratively restored within twelve months is treated as having continued in existence as if it had never been struck off. But assets that vested in the State need to be dealt with as part of the restoration, which is one of the reasons prompt action costs far less than delay.
What is the cost to restore a company in Ireland?
The CRO filing fee for Form H1 is €300, and you should confirm the current figure on the CRO's filing fees page. That is rarely the bulk of the cost. You must also file every outstanding annual return with financial statements for each individual year, pay the filing fee for each return and the late filing penalties accrued against each one, and obtain Revenue clearance. For a High Court restoration, add legal costs for a solicitor and counsel. A company struck off after one missed return costs far less to restore than one struck off after three.
Can I just set up a new company instead of restoring the old one?
Sometimes that is the sensible answer, and sometimes it is impossible. Incorporating fresh is cheaper and faster, and if the struck-off company held nothing of value it may be the right call. But a new company cannot inherit the old one's contracts, bank accounts, property, intellectual property, licences, VAT number or trading history. If any of those matter — and if there is property registered in the old company's name, they certainly do — restoration is the only route. Note also that the old company's compliance failures do not simply vanish because you incorporated something new.
What is the difference between administrative and court restoration?
Timing, cost and complexity. Administrative restoration is available where less than twelve months have passed since dissolution, is applied for on Form H1 directly to the Registrar, and is a documentary process. High Court restoration applies where the company has been dissolved for more than twelve months but less than twenty years, requires a court application on notice to the Registrar, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and Revenue, and needs legal representation. The CRO itself notes that companies generally opt for administrative restoration where available, because it is speedier and cheaper.
Can a creditor restore a struck off company without my involvement?
Yes. Where a creditor feels aggrieved by the company having been struck off — typically because there is a debt they cannot pursue against a dissolved entity — they may apply to court for restoration within twenty years of dissolution. Directors sometimes assume that a strike-off ends the matter for outstanding liabilities. It does not.
My company has been dissolved for more than 20 years. Is there anything I can do?
The twenty-year period is the outer limit for restoration under section 738. Beyond it, restoration is not available, and any question about assets formerly held by the company becomes a separate matter requiring legal advice.
Do I need a solicitor to restore my company?
Not for administrative restoration — that is a filing exercise, and a company secretarial provider or formation agent can handle it. For High Court restoration, yes: the application requires a solicitor and counsel, and the CRO advises obtaining legal advice for any proposed court application.
How do I check whether my company has actually been struck off?
Search the register on cro.ie. The company's status will show, and where a company has been restored, the date of reinstatement appears on the company printout. If you have received CRO correspondence about strike-off listing but not yet dissolution, act immediately — a company still in the notice period can often avoid strike-off altogether by bringing filings up to date, which is much cheaper than restoring afterwards.