EIGHTY per cent of cases taken against businesses for failing to file their annual returns are being withdrawn in what is being described as a "waste" of taxpayers money.
Businesses are required to file annual returns with Companies House, in addition to other financial documents, such as yearly accounts.
Annual returns require details of the directors and secretary, company details, address and details of capital and shareholders.
The number of cases taken to court by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) after being referred by Companies House against businesses who failed to meet their deadlines has doubled in a year - resulting in just two more convictions.
Northern Ireland entrepreneurs have hit out at the "inaccessible" tax system them which they say is an increasing financial and time burden.
Figures obtained by the Irish News reveal that in 2014, there were 50 cases taken to court by the PPS. Of these, 40 did not result in a conviction.
In 2013, there were 27 such cases taken to court, 19 of which did not result in a conviction.
Responding to the figures, Wilfred Mitchell of Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) called for a review to bring about "a more proportionate response".
"As it is evident with the number of withdrawals it is a wasteful cost to both the courts and businesses, in both time and money," he said.
Mr Mitchell said businesses delay in filing annual returns must be seen in the wider context of the onerous administrative demands made by the system.
"Making the tax system accessible, and easy to use, is fundamental to reducing the amount of companies that are facing legal action," he said.
"The threat of these legal proceedings place the small business owner under an disproportionate amount of stress, having no in-house experts time and resources diverted from the business to manage the situation."
Ann McGregor, chief executive of Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said it had been practice for businesses to receive a document alerting them that annual returns were due.
"However it is now the responsibility of the business to look online themselves," she said.
"For a small businesses this is easy to overlook especially when they are burdened by other regulation. Perhaps a better system of notifying businesses would be a good starting point."
A Companies House spokesman said "sometimes, it takes legal action to encourage some companies to comply and this is unfortunate both for the tax payer and perhaps for the companies in default".
"Companies do have legal obligations to file documentation in a timely way - which will be made available to the public allowing them, potentially, to make financial commitments based on what information is or is not available," he said.
"It is unacceptable for companies to delay or prolong the withholding of legally required data without good reason. The important thing is that the register remains as up-to-date and, therefore, as fit for purpose as possible and of benefit to the economy.
"If it is ultimately the case that a proportion do finally submit the documentation without proceedings, that would be all that was required in the first place and is, ultimately, our goal.
"We take no pleasure in pursuing prosecutions for the sake of them."
