Companies Act 2014 section 280B

Qualification of company as small company: holding company

Section 280B sets out the rules for determining whether a holding company qualifies as a small company, which depends entirely on whether the group it heads meets the criteria for a small group.

• A holding company can only qualify as small if the entire group it heads qualifies as a small group, based on aggregate turnover, balance sheet total, and employee numbers
• A small group must meet at least two of three size thresholds: turnover not exceeding €15 million net (or €18 million gross), balance sheet total not exceeding €7.5 million net (or €9 million gross), and average employees not exceeding 50
• For years after the first year as a holding company, the group generally needs to satisfy the size criteria across two consecutive years (current and prior) or have already been classified as small in the prior year
• The classification is unavailable if any member of the group is an ineligible entity, and where turnover and balance sheet thresholds are used, the group must apply either net or gross figures consistently for both measures