UK company registry: what can you see there

When selecting a country for business, we advise you to pay attention to one of the respectable jurisdictions in Europe – the UK. Registering a company in England is a chance to legally organize an offshore structure on legal grounds and take advantage of tax benefits without any restrictions.

What you need to know about business opening in this country?

Company registry in the UK has the following advantages:

• the documentation process itself is convenient, transparent, does not take much time and is available online;
• Entrepreneurs receive ample opportunities for state support and tax incentives;
• the development of business on any scale is facilitated by the presence in the country of a developed infrastructure and a skilled workforce;
• the UK has a strong corporate culture and support for private enterprises, in particular for small and medium-sized businesses;
• a company is registered UK creates the prerequisites for trust, both on the part of counterparties and on the part of regulatory authorities in different jurisdictions;
• the country’s market is thriving in finance, IT, development and a number of other areas of commercial activity;
• Businesses with English registration have full access to all sectors of the world market.

The recent exit of the UK from the EU (Brexit) did not have a negative impact on either economic stability or the business climate in the country. The boundless British market for goods and services provides favorable opportunities for the development of your business.

Other advantages of England as a place to enroll an worldwide business:

• It is not included in the black list of unfriendly EU countries from among the tax havens, but at the same time it provides all the benefits for applying similar taxation rules to foreign companies of international level.
• Not the highest corporate tax rates, which in the UK in 2022-2023 is 19% and can be reduced to 0%.
• A worldwide network of double taxation treaties, which entitles you to pay taxes in only one state.
• If you wish to take root in England, a foreign founder can obtain a tax residence certificate for his offshore company, which immediately ceases to be such and is transferred to the status of an English local business, as well as for himself.
• The UK legal framework is based on Anglo-Saxon law, which provides access to a nominee service and remote business management through a trustee (nominal).
• By accessing the UK banking sector, a non-resident business can keep its capital in a secure financial system or use this instrument for personal purposes. In the latter case, it should be recalled that in the UK, all residents pay imposts on personal worldwide revenue. Zero rate eligibility may arise for certain reasons, including the presence of a foreign domicile.

How to Set Up a Company in the UK?

Enrollment of a company in the UK by a non-resident takes place in several stages, including the procedure for preparing documents, buying an office, tax planning and opening a bank account. At the same time, for foreign founders who wish not only to register a company in the UK, but to receive tax benefits offshore, only a few organizational and legal forms of business are available.

You should also carefully study the UK tax system, where there are tests for economic presence, deliberate concealment of income from accounting in the taxable base and segregation of assets by type of transactions. As part of this material, we will only talk about the general principles of taxation in England for offshore companies and provide a brief guide to company registration in the United Kingdom.

What taxes do businesses in the country pay?

• The UK corporate tax rate is set by the government each fiscal year. The base income tax rate is 19%. From April 1, 2023, it will increase to 25%. At the same time, the tax rate on redirected profits is 25%, and from spring 2023 it will increase to 31%.
• The basic rate of VAT (VAT) is 20%. For certain categories of goods, a preferential tax rate of 15% is provided, and for some goods it is generally 0% (for books, children’s clothing, food products).
• Taxation of personal income in the UK can be as high as 45%.

Official papers you need

To do company registration in United Kingdom, you need a minimum of documents:

• a copy of a foreign passport;
• a copy of the citizen’s internal passport;
• set of constituent documents.

Also, you need to pay attention to company name registration in UK (United Kingdom). Repetition of business names in the register is not allowed. The ending LTD, LLP and so on will be added to the name chosen and checked for originality, depending on the lawful type of the business. It is not allowed to use the words Empire, Crown, Imperial, Royal, Bank, National in the name.