Voluntary Strike Off not available where Issued Share Capital exceeds €150 for the three previous years.

The Companies Registration Office issued a notice stating that from 1 May 2011 companies with more than €150 of issued share capital will not be able to avail of voluntary strike off.

Such companies will instead need to be liquidated which is a more costly and complicated procedure.

There is an option to restructure the share capital of the company so that it is at the €150 level. This solution however can only be done in a small number of cases where it does not infringe upon the share capital maintance rules and can be costly in itself.

Even if the company can do this it must then wait for three years before applying for Voluntary Strike Off which means three more years incurring administration costs in respect of filing fees with the CRO.

Since the 1st May 2011 a new Form H15 will need to be completed which will require the applicant to state that the share capital does not exceed €150 for the previous three years.

It is clear in the majority of these cases, if Directors wish to remove a company from the register they will be obliged to perform a Members Voluntary Liquidation. Please contact us today for a FREE Intial consultation in relation to this matter.