What is there to Know about Maintaining a Company in the UK?

So, what makes Great Britain so appealing for all types of businesses from all over the world? There are quite a few reasons: a democratic approach, no red tape and easy ways to minimize business costs.

In practice, companies registered in Great Britain are offered lower tax rates as compared with other European countries, generating multiple opportunities for thriving. It is no surprise that an increasing number of businessmen are interested in company incorporation in Great Britain.

This article will explore the peculiarities of maintaining a company in Great Britain.

Returns and Audit in Great Britain

Registering a company in England is not exactly the same thing as opening one in a classical offshore.

Your British company will have annual tax returns to deliver. However the reporting financial year generally begins on the date of company registration in Great Britain.

As for the audit, it is mandatory for large companies only. There is no obligation to conduct the audit of financial statements for small private companies registered in Great Britain.

If your company meets two of the following criteria, it will be exempt from audits:

• the company’s annual turnover does not exceed 6.5 million GBP;
• the book value of assets does not exceed 3.26million GBP;
• the average number of employees is 50 or less.

Thus, choosing Great Britain for company registration means a significant saving of company returns preparation and submission since you do not need to perform the costly annual audit.

Issue of Apostilled Documents for a British Company

In 2016 British companies were relieved of the duty to keep their register of shareholders and register of directors/secretaries and of significant controllers at their office. They now can keep all those documents at the Companies House. This is a very convenient option allowing substantial savings of time and effort associated with corporate documents management. It is particularly relevant for small companies which do not change owners, directors and controllers so often.

Furthermore, with a company registered in Great Britain, you can save up considerably on apostilled or simply certified package of corporate documents because those would not (in most cases) require additional translation, and the service itself does not cost so much.

Changing a Company’s Address in the UK

When registering a company in Great Britain it is extremely important to disclose all required information to the registrar in a timely manner. One needs to inform about all significant company events, including change of registered office address, change of directors or their data which are subject to inclusion in the register of directors, change of main type of activity etc.

But one should keep in mind that the process of making changes in the register is generally not time-consuming. Besides, it is relatively cheap, and there is the option to introduce amendments remotely.

Authorized capital of a British Company

There is no minimum authorized capital requirement for limited liability companies in the UK. In most cases an English company’s authorized capital is of declarative nature. Limited liability companies in England generally declare a capital of 100 EUR divided into 100 shares with par value 1.00 EUR each.

Neither are there strict deadlines for paying the authorized capital of limited liability companies registered in the UK. It will be sufficient to indicate “no changes since the last year” in your British company’s annual Confirmation Statement. This step even more simplifies doing business in Britain.

So, there is no need to contribute to (pay up) the authorized capital of a British company, and there are no minimum capital requirement at all. This approach makes company registration and maintenance in Great Britain a fairly simple and inexpensive process.

Substance Creation in Great Britain

The main practical reason for creating substance has to do with the attitude of banking institutions which no longer consider the fact of company incorporation in the country of registration sufficient. Any foreign company, including companies registered in the UK, has to provide evidence of the actual presence and operations at the address of registration.

The lawyers at SBSB will help you arrange the substance in Great Britain, and also open accounts in the British payment system with a personal IBAN, with no confirmation of substance required. The account opening process is much quicker and simpler in the payment systems. The account can be used for settlements, cash deposits, money transfers, payments for goods and services etc.

One of the advantages of registering a company in Great Britain is that the business operations of non-residents’ companies incorporated in Great Britain are not limited to their country of registration.

Therefore, company registration in the UK offers multiple benefits for your business and will not wipe out your savings, since Great Britain is a place with low tax rates and easy company maintenance rules.

If you value your time and prefer to entrust your business’s legal and tax support tasks to professionals, you can fully rely on SBSB experts when opening a company in Great Britain.

SBSB provides UK company registration services in other jurisdictions. We will offer you an optimum solution tailored to your specifications and needs in the shortest time possible, sparing you and your business the unnecessary risks.