Why choose the UK as an offshore company?

[Ciropollo]

Maybe I miss something, but even in this forum, many people are talking about the UK as a good place to make business.

But I don't see much advantage, maybe I'm wrong?

• Nominee service could work only for shareholders and directors, the PSC still will be your name, so your name is on the public register;
• 20% of taxes, next year would be 25%;
• You must do accounting and make invoices for each client you have;
• After reaching £85.000 taking VAT if you have no clients in the UK, office in the UK, structure in the UK, you will never get;

So... What's the point in choosing the UK? Maybe the large provider of gateways of payments both for cards and for banks (EMI), but all rest, I see no advantage.

 

[Sols]

UK is a good place to run a business because it's a generally business friendly jurisdiction with a lot of skilled workers and other businesses around to partner with, compete with, learn from, and so on. It has also a non-domicile resident program which is attractive for wealthy people.

Accounting in UK is easy. In fact, the record keeping requirements in UK are in many ways simpler than many tax havens. There are dozens if not hundreds of applications you can use to simplify the process, too.

UK is not a good place if all you care about is the tax bill, though, so you got that right.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[fshore]

Ciropollo said:
After reaching £85.000 taking VAT if you have no clients in the UK, office in the UK, structure in the UK, you will never get;
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What do you mean?

 

[Ciropollo]

Sols said:
UK is a good place to run a business because it's a generally business friendly jurisdiction with a lot of skilled workers and other businesses around to partner with, compete with, learn from, and so on. It has also a non-domicile resident program which is attractive for wealthy people.

Accounting in UK is easy. In fact, the record keeping requirements in UK are in many ways simpler than many tax havens. There are dozens if not hundreds of applications you can use to simplify the process, too.

UK is not a good place if all you care about is the tax bill, though, so you got that right.
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Oh yes sure, I think that accounting is very easy, from what I heard you can simply take track of your sales even on Excel, so very easy. Still, you must take the address of your client.

But about VAT, is kind, complicated. I mean 85k pounds are fast to take, and when you reach them you are a forced to dissolve the company if you don't have an office and client in the UK? So it's extremely limited as a company to run, no?

fshore said:
What do you mean?
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After you have reached 85k pounds you must ask VAT, and as long as you have no clients in the UK, no offices, no employers you will never take for what I heard

 

[Sols]

Ciropollo said:
But about VAT, is kind, complicated. I mean 85k pounds are fast to take, and when you reach them you are a forced to dissolve the company if you don't have an office and client in the UK? So it's extremely limited as a company to run, no?
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You have to register for VAT if you sell more than 85,000 GBP to UK. If you do that, the HMRC will generally grant you a VAT number even if you're non-resident. But you're right that it can be difficult and you might need to work with a local accounting or law firm to get it done.

UK makes sense in some cases for some people, and in some cases, for some people it does not. I guess that's the gist of it.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[Jerry1911]

Sols said:
But you're right that it can be difficult and you might need to work with a local accounting or law firm to get it done.
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Why do they make a fuss about it?

 

[fshore]

I don't think it's difficult to register for vat any more, as all foreign companies that ship to consumers in the UK needs to register for vat also. However your address for vat, even if a UK company, will be your physical address in your country.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

The dirty little secret is that many UK companies are used just for a few transactions and then abandoned.

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[Ciropollo]

JohnnyDoe said:
The dirty little secret is that many UK companies are used just for a few transactions and then abandoned.
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And what is the plus of doing it? The PSC still has your name and find a nominee for PSC I believe it doesn't exist.

Sols said:
You have to register for VAT if you sell more than 85,000 GBP to the UK. If you do that, the HMRC will generally grant you a VAT number even if you're a non-resident. But you're right that it can be difficult and you might need to work with a local accounting or law firm to get it done.

UK makes sense in some cases for some people, and in some cases, for some people, it does not. I guess that's the gist of it.
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If you will not have your major business in the UK, you will never get the VAT. Maybe you can still if you can provide employers and office (the real one), I believe law firm or accounting is not able to help you if not, yourself.

Last edited: Jul 2, 2022

 

[SoNewToAllShit]

JohnnyDoe said:
The dirty little secret is that many UK companies are used just for a few transactions and then abandoned.
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very true

Ciropollo said:
If you have your major business in the UK, you will never get the VAT.
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very wrong

Ciropollo said:
I believe law firm or accounting is not able to help you if not, yourself.
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very wrong

Man you have a lot to learn mate!

Sols said:
UK makes sense in some cases for some people, and in some cases, for some people it does not. I guess that's the gist of it.
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in particular if you need a merchant account for card processing it's a good place for your business.

 

[Ciropollo]

SoNewToAllShit said:
very true


very wrong

very wrong

Man you have a lot to learn mate!

in particular if you need a merchant account for card processing it's a good place for your business.
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I made mistake, if you have NOT your major business in the UK. Sorry.

What can do Law firm if you have not office and not employers and not selling anything in UK?

 

[SoNewToAllShit]

Ciropollo said:
I made mistake, if you have NOT your major business in the UK. Sorry.
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even than they can do it.

Ciropollo said:
What can do Law firm if you have not office and not employers and not selling anything in UK?
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you don't need a law firm, almost all providers of UK company formation can do.

Read this article and scroll down, you will see a good list of companies that can help you setup everything remote.
https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/the-complete-guide-to-uk-company-formation.37087/
Good thread to read because of your question
https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/uk-ltd-for-payment-processing.27803/

 

[treasureinyou]

beyond ltd companies, they are also partnerships (in various shapes and forms)

If you compare the UK to a socialist state in freefall such as France the UK is very much a tax haven.

You can pay zero NI contributions, and tax rates on dividends is very low. Mix salary and dividends, have the company pay your pension (and charge that against corporate tax)

I don't believe the 25% rate will ever hap[en if the tories want to re re-elected. I could be wrong.

 

[lostguy]

If the objective is to establish a low cost, low tax company in Europe and banking + payment processing is a requirement, the UK is perfect.

Alternatives are Cyprus, Dubai and Switzerland, but much more expensive.

 

[SoNewToAllShit]

Ciropollo said:
What can do Law firm if you have not office and not employers and not selling anything in UK?
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make sure to find some office if you need substance!

 

[Ciropollo]

SoNewToAllShit said:
make sure to find some office if you need substance!
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And how much could it cost an office for a year in the UK? Plus, you still have to deal with the issue that there are no employers and no UK consumers.

 

[BrianTan]

It depends on the advantages they're looking for when setting up a company. If they want an open and liberalized economy or a highly skilled and well-educated workforce, the UK could be on the list of choices. If tax returns or British culture bother them, I think, the UK will be crossed out of the list. So, the UK may not be a good option for you, but others may.