ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF A UK COMPANY  …. WITHOUT ANY OF THE HASSLES!

SCF Corporate Management , VAT, Accountancy & Tax Services

The United Kingdom is one of the most favoured company management locations within Europe; primarily because of its pro-business stance, lack of bureaucracy, low corporate taxes, domicile and residence rules favouring foreign permanent residents plus of course the fact that London is the main business and financial centre for the whole Continent. In addition, although the United Kingdom can provide many of the advantages of a tax haven, both personally and at a corporate level, its extensive double taxation treaty network further creates a strong protection against the anti-avoidance provisions of other countries in a way that no tax haven could dream of! For those individuals wiling to relocate to the UK, the SCF Group can also arrange your personal affairs in such a way that you need only pay UK taxes on remitted income or, if you can live off your existing assets, no UK tax at all and yet fully benefiting from UK tax treaty protection

Why register a UK Managed Company?

• UK has very low corporate taxes 20%
• British limited liability companies do not need to be capitalised before commencing to trade
• Legal and Incorporation Fees are a fraction of those in most civil law countries
• The legal documents (known as the Memorandum & Articles of Association) can be pre-apostilled under the Hague Convention and pre-translated into most main European languages
• Although trading will normally take place exclusively through the local branch / succursale / zweignniederlassung the governing law is that of England & Wales (Scotland may also be selected)  which is generally considered to be more corporate friendly than that in civil law countries
• The overall cost is generally many €1,000s less than if a German gessellschaft mit beschränkter (GmbH) or French société à responsabilité limitée (Sàrl) were formed and capitalized

Understanding Why and How British Limited Companies register Branch Operations Abroad

All British limited companies are deemed tax resident in The UK unless covered by a Double Taxation Treaty (DTT) - It is a common misconception that UK companies trading outside the UK do not need to adhere to UK domestic company laws. This is not true, ALL British companies need to maintain British accounts, make submissions to the Inland Revenue/Revenue Commissioners and reply to standard statutory enquiries from The Companies House/Companies Registration Office. However, if for example the British limited company has a branch/succursale/zweignniederlassung in Germany then the zweignniederlassung under the DTT will be subject to German taxes but controlled by British laws. Thus, if the UK Company does not trade in UK but has an active branch in Germany only German taxes will apply. In this scenario, the following "options" would be required:

• The appointment of an accountant plus the maintenance of accounts for the German zweignniederlassung's which must be maintained and submitted to the Inland Revenue at the end of each financial year (The Form is known as a CT600 Form).
• The completion and submission of the Annual Return Form 363 (Included in the Full Secretarial Service)
• The apostilling and translation of the UK limited company legal documents (known as the Memorandum and Articles of Association) into German for submission to the German authorize registering the zweignniederlassung

Using Managed British Limited Companies to trade Directly with Europe

Such companies are used by Continental Europeans because apart from the low cost of registering a UK [Irish limited companies are more expensive but not nearly as expensive as registering a German gessellschaft mit beschrankter (Gmbh)] limited company the UK also has much lower corporate taxes (starting from around 20% p.a.) and social taxes. Again, such trading companies cannot be discriminated against in Germany or other parts of the ECU but to be accepted hey must show MANAGEMENT & CONTROL in the UK and NOT GERMANY. To do this the company must be registered for VAT and be really managed in the UK by, for example, our in-house accountants. Thus service legally requires us to operate a UK bank account and make quarterly VAT returns to the Government (Customs & Excise). Cost wise, a FULLY MANAGED UK company will cost a few thousand € each year but can save €10,000s compared to running a German Gmbh or French Sarl.

Anti-avoidance provisions and the benefits of using Managed and Controlled British limited Companies

Unlike tax havens, it is almost impossible for either the French, German or other investigating tax authorities to discriminate against properly managed British companies for the very simple reason that both are highly respectable European Union countries. The only issues that can technically be raised relate to proving that there is a genuine business reason other than simple tax mitigation - Obviously, this burden can normally be easily satisfied due to the importance and size of the countries involved but it cannot be over-stressed that full and proper management must take place in the UK to derive these benefits.

Why use SCF Legal & Corporate Management Services?

The SCF Group - a fully licensed trust and management company owned by UK lawyers and accountants and recommended by the Financial Times of London's "International" Magazine as being one of the top 30 Financial Websites in the World. The Group can provide literally all the services your UK Managed Company will require right from satisfying the law through to accountancy, office space, telecommunications etc. To find out more about our services please e-mail one of the following consultants:

Neha Jamnadas LL.B - Senior Consultant and Solicitor (NZ): neha@scfgroup.com