You must pay preliminary tax one month before the end of your accounting period (s 958(2)).

You must also file a corporation tax return on or before the return filing date, i.e., the last day of the ninth month after the end of your accounting period (s 951).

If you are a “small” company (with a tax charge below €200,000), you may pay preliminary tax based on your previous year’s liability (which may be nil if it is your first year of trading). Preliminary tax payable before the end of the accounting period need not take account of unrealised foreign exchange gains and losses arising in the final two months of the period, provided you make a top-up payment one month after the end of the accounting period.

If your liability in the previous accounting period (AP) exceeded €200,000, you must pay in two instalments:

(a) the first is payable on the 21^st day of the sixth month of your AP (21 June for a calendar year AP),

(b) the second is payable on the 21^st day of the eleventh month of your AP (21 November for a calendar year AP).

If you file and pay electronically, the 21^st becomes the 23^rd.

To avoid interest and surcharge, your preliminary tax payment must equal 90% of the ultimate liability. However, if the preliminary tax meets the 90% test in relation to tax on income (i.e., profits excluding chargeable gains), you may pay any balance within one month of the end of the accounting period (s 958(4C), (4E)).

You must pay any remaining balance on or before the return filing date (s 958(3)).

If you do not distribute investment or rental income (s 440) to your shareholders, you are subject to a 20% surcharge on undistributed amount. If you are a service company, a 15% surcharge applies to the aggregate of your undistributed investment and rental income and half your trading income (s 441).