Limited Company Tax Deadlines in Ireland: The Full Year Map

Aoife and Mark set up their café company in Wexford last year. The first-year rush is over: two part-time staff are on the payroll and the VAT number has arrived. Now the letters from Revenue and the CRO keep coming, and they want one plain answer. What repeats, and when?

This guide maps the tax deadlines in Ireland that a small limited company in Ireland and its directors face in a normal year, grouped by rhythm. The diagram carries the dates. The text explains how to read it.

The limited company year at a glance

Each band is a rhythm, and each card names the filing, who receives it and the deadline. Three bodies are involved, plus you:

• Revenue collects corporation tax, VAT and payroll taxes.
• The CRO (Companies Registration Office) holds the company's public record.
• The RBO (Register of Beneficial Ownership) records who owns or controls the company.
• You, as a director, file your own income tax return.

Yearly dates assume a 31 December year end; if yours differs, they move with it.

Set-up filings that start the clock

Your incorporation date sets the first deadlines. The CRO fixes the first annual return date (ARD) at six months after incorporation, and the first B1 is due within 56 days of it, without financial statements. Beneficial owners go to the RBO within five months of incorporation.

With Revenue, the company registers for corporation tax, and for VAT and employer PAYE where they apply. Our tax registration service handles this. These choices decide which rhythms below apply: no staff means no payroll, and no VAT number means no VAT 3.

Every month: payroll, PAYE and RCT

Each time you pay staff, you send Revenue a payroll submission on or before the payday. You then pay the month's PAYE, PRSI and USC by the 14th of the next month, or the 23rd if you pay and file through ROS. Quarterly remitters pay 14 days after the quarter ends (23 days on ROS).

MyFutureFund auto-enrolment contributions also run through payroll, but they are paid to the scheme's own authority rather than Revenue, so they are not on the diagram. Our payroll for small companies service covers both.

Two items apply only in some cases. Principal contractors in construction pay RCT by the 23rd after each monthly or quarterly period. If the company pays a dividend, the DWT return and payment are due by the 14th of the following month.

Every two months: the VAT 3 return

Most VAT-registered companies file a VAT 3 return for two-month periods starting in January. It is due, with payment, by the 19th of the month after the period ends, or the 23rd on ROS.

Your VAT return dates can differ. Revenue can authorise four-monthly returns where annual VAT is between €3,001 and €14,400, and six-monthly returns where it is €3,000 or less. Businesses usually due a refund often file monthly.

If you sell to VAT-registered businesses elsewhere in the EU, you also file a VIES statement, monthly or quarterly, by the 23rd of the following month.

Every year: the tax deadlines in Ireland that catch directors out

These come round once, so they are easy to miss. For a 31 December year end:

• January: the RTD return (Return of Trading Details) summarises the VAT year's sales and purchases by rate. It is due by the 23rd of the month after your VAT year ends.
• September: the CT1 and any balance of corporation tax are due on 23 September. Companies that are not exempt send iXBRL financial statements with the CT1 or within three months after. See our annual accounts and CT1 service.
• November: a small company (corporation tax under €200,000 in the previous period) pays preliminary tax by 23 November. Larger companies pay in two instalments.
• Your ARD: the B1 is due within 56 days, with financial statements made up to a date no more than nine months before the ARD.
• AGM: every year, with no more than 15 months between meetings. A private company limited by shares can use a written resolution signed by all members instead.

For directors, the Form 11 deadline is 31 October. Proprietary directors must file a Form 11 even when their salary is taxed through PAYE. By 31 October you file last year's return, pay any balance and pay this year's preliminary tax, with a later November date if you pay and file on ROS. Our director's Form 11 service covers this. If you sold assets personally, capital gains tax is due by 15 December for January to November sales and by 31 January for December sales.

When something changes: event-driven filings

The clock starts when the change happens.

Say Mark's sister joins as a director and buys shares. That means a B10 to the CRO within 14 days, a B5 within one month of the share allotment, and an RBO update within 14 days if she becomes a beneficial owner. A move of registered office needs a B2 within 14 days.

Keeping the year on track

Three habits keep Aoife and Mark ahead:

• One shared calendar with every date from the diagram and a reminder a week before.
• A monthly bookkeeping close, so the VAT 3 return, payroll and the RTD return use reconciled figures.
• A named owner for each filing.

Our accounting and bookkeeping team can take on this work, and our bookkeeping packages set out what is included. Not incorporated yet? The Formation Calculator shows what setting up involves.

Frequently Asked Questions

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