The United Kingdom's company rules: quick facts
- Entity
- Private company limited by shares (Ltd)
- Tax model
- Corporate tax on profit, 25% Source: gov.uk, checked September 29, 2026. HMRC rates and allowances (updated April 1, 2026), financial years 2025 and 2026: main rate 25%, small profits rate 19% for profits up to GBP 50,000, marginal relief between GBP 50,000 and GBP 250,000 with a standard fraction of 3/200. Both limits are divided by the number of associated companiesHeadline corporate tax rate
- Tax on $100,000 of profit kept in the company
- 21.5% Source: gov.uk, checked September 29, 2026. $100,000 = GBP 75,396 at GBP 0.753955 per USD (ECB, 2026-09-28). Tax = 25% x 75,396 minus 3/200 x (250,000 - 75,396) = 18,849 - 2,619 = GBP 16,230, or 21.5% of profit. No associated companies assumed
- Tax on $100,000 of profit paid out to a non-resident owner
- 21.5% Source: gov.uk, checked September 29, 2026. Paying the GBP 59,166 left after tax to a non-resident owner adds no UK tax: dividends from UK companies are disregarded income for a non-resident, whose UK liability is limited to tax deducted at source (HMRC SAIM1170, updated April 7, 2026), and none is deducted. The owner's residence country taxes the dividend
- Dividend withholding for a non-resident owner
- 0% Source: gov.uk, checked September 29, 2026. The notional tax credit for non-residents ended for dividends received from April 6, 2026; it only mattered to non-residents also claiming a personal allowance against UK rental or partnership income
- Formed without visiting
- Yes
- Stripe available
- Yes Source: stripe.com, checked September 29, 2026
- Bank or EMI account
- Good
- Audit required
- No
- EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions
- Not listed Source: data.consilium.europa.eu, checked October 12, 2026
- FATF grey list
- Not listed Source: data.consilium.europa.eu, checked October 12, 2026
- Economic substance rules
- No
Which UK company a non-resident forms: the private limited company
Non-residents form a private company limited by shares, the Ltd. It needs at least 1 director who is a natural person, of any nationality and living anywhere, a company secretary is optional, and every director and person with significant control has to verify their identity with Companies House. No audit is needed at this size.
The Ltd is a taxpayer in its own right, which is the main difference from a US LLC owned by a non-resident, where the company pays nothing and the profit is taxed only on the owner. Founders pick the UK for credibility with clients, full Stripe support and a wide treaty network, not for the rate.
UK corporation tax on a non-resident's company
A company incorporated in the UK is UK tax resident wherever it is run, unless a tax treaty makes it resident only in the other country. It pays corporation tax on its worldwide profit at 19% on profits up to £50,000 (about $66,300) and 25% above £250,000 (about $332,000), with marginal relief in between.
At $100,000 of profit, which is £75,396, the tax comes to £16,230 (about $21,500), or 21.5%. Inside the relief band each extra pound is taxed at 26.5%, and both limits are divided by the number of associated companies, so a founder who owns 1 other company gets a £25,000 (about $33,200) small profits limit in each.
Paying the remaining £59,166 (about $78,500) out adds no UK tax: UK companies deduct nothing from ordinary dividends, and a non-resident's UK tax on them is limited to tax deducted at source, which is none. What the dividend costs you depends on where you live.
VAT registration becomes compulsory once taxable turnover in the last 12 months goes over £90,000 (about $119,000). Services sold to business customers abroad are generally outside UK VAT, because they are supplied where the customer belongs.
David's note
I would choose a UK Ltd when trust matters more than the rate: clients, payment providers and banks know it, and the filings are predictable. I would not choose it to cut tax. The UK takes its 19% to 25% before your home country starts, so for someone living in a high-tax country it adds a layer rather than removing one.
Cost and timeline to set up in the United Kingdom
| Companies House incorporation (online)Official fee | £100 (about $133) Source: gov.uk, checked September 29, 2026. GBP 100 by software or online, GBP 124 on paper (guidance updated September 25, 2026). About $133. Raised from GBP 50 on February 1, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Confirmation statement (online, yearly)Official fee | £50 (about $66) a year Source: gov.uk, checked September 29, 2026. GBP 50 online, GBP 110 on paper, charged with the first statement in each 12-month period. About $66. Raised from GBP 34 on February 1, 2026 |
| Setup, all inMarket range, checked Sep 2026 | $265 to $670 |
| Running cost per year, all inMarket range, checked Sep 2026 | $450 to $2,650 |
Official fees come from the government or registry schedule. Market ranges cover formation and yearly upkeep through a provider, including a registered agent and filings. Timeline: Online incorporation usually takes about 1 business day once every director and person with significant control has verified their identity. Companies House says an Authorised Corporate Service Provider can verify a founder from any country, and the GOV.UK One Login app accepts a non-UK passport with a biometric chip.
How to register a UK company from abroad
You never need to visit the UK. Identity checks can be done through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider from any country, and once every director and person with significant control is verified, online incorporation usually takes about 1 business day.
Registering a UK Ltd as a non-resident
- Verify the identity of every director and person with significant control. A director provides it with the incorporation filing, so do this first.
- Get a UK registered office. It must be a physical address in the UK, in the same UK nation the company registers in, and not a PO box; a service provider's address works with their permission. You also give Companies House an email address, which is not published.
- Prepare the company details: the name, the director, the shareholders and their shares, and the people with significant control.
- Register online with Companies House for £100 (about $133), and take the option to set the company up for Corporation Tax at the same time.
- Open the business account once the certificate of incorporation arrives.
- Diary the first deadlines: the first confirmation statement is due within 14 days of the company's first anniversary, and the first accounts 21 months after incorporation.
Identity verification is the only real gate. There is no nationality or residence rule, but anyone who cannot get verified cannot be a director or person with significant control, and your name as the owner is public on the Companies House register.
UK company annual filings and deadlines
The tax is due before the return: Corporation Tax is payable 9 months and 1 day after the accounting period ends, while the return itself has 12 months. These are the filings a UK Ltd owes every year, wherever its owner lives.
Yearly filings for a UK private limited company
| Filing | Filed with | Deadline | Cost of missing it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confirmation statement, £50 (about $66) online | Companies House | Within 14 days after each 12-month review period ends | A fine of up to £5,000 (about $6,630) and striking off |
| Annual accounts | Companies House | First accounts 21 months after registration, then 9 months after each financial year ends | £150 to £1,500 (about $199 to $1,990) by lateness, doubled if late 2 years in a row |
| Company Tax Return (CT600) with accounts and computations | HMRC | 12 months after the accounting period ends | £200 (about $265) at 1 day, another £200 at 3 months, then 10% of unpaid tax at 6 and 12 months |
| Corporation Tax payment | HMRC | 9 months and 1 day after the accounting period ends | Interest on the late tax |
| Your own tax return, with the dividends on it | The tax authority where you live | Your country's deadline | Your country's penalties and the tax itself |
Opening a UK business bank account as a non-resident director
UK fintech and e-money business accounts are the usual route for a director who lives abroad: they open online with the company number, your ID and proof of your home address. High-street banks often want UK residence or a visit to a branch, so they rarely suit a founder who is not coming to the UK.
Stripe fully supports UK companies, so the company can take card payments as soon as the account is open.
Expect the account provider to run its own checks on you, on what the company sells and on where its clients are, even though Companies House has already verified your identity. Each provider sets its own rules on which countries of residence it accepts, and those rules change.
The UK exchanges account information under the OECD Common Reporting Standard and has a FATCA agreement with the US. A UK company is a good way to invoice international clients from a trusted jurisdiction; it is not a way to keep income out of view of the country where you live.
Where a UK company's profit is really taxed
The UK column is the same for every owner, because the company pays 21.5% on $100,000 of profit wherever you live. What changes is what the country you live in adds on the dividend, and whether it claims the company as well.
Tax on $100,000 of UK company profit, all paid out as a dividend
| Owner situation | UK tax | What your country adds |
|---|---|---|
| Lives in the UK | £16,230 (about $21,500) corporation tax | UK dividend tax on the £59,166 (about $78,500) paid out |
| Lives in a high-tax country and runs the company from home | £16,230 (about $21,500) | Tax on the dividend at home, and possibly a claim that the company itself is resident there or has a permanent establishment there |
| Lives in a country with no tax on the dividend | £16,230 (about $21,500) | Nothing, so 21.5% is all you pay |
| Has no tax residence anywhere | £16,230 (about $21,500) | Nothing on paper, but banks will ask where you are tax resident |
Move to the UK yourself and the dividend that left the UK tax-free now meets UK income tax on residents' dividends, on top of the corporation tax the company already paid.
Running a UK company from a home office abroad
If you live in a high-tax country and take every decision from your apartment there, that country can say the company is managed there and tax its profit too, or treat your home office as a permanent establishment of the UK company. The treaty tie-breaker settles dual residence case by case, and until it does, the same profit can face 2 tax claims.
A non-resident's UK Ltd, set up right and wrong
Works
You chose the Ltd for Stripe, banking and client trust, you budget 21.5% UK tax at $100,000 of profit, you declare the dividends where you live, and the confirmation statement, accounts and CT600 go in on time every year.
Fails
You formed the Ltd to cut tax while living in a high-tax country, you run it from your home office there, you pay UK corporation tax, and you never ask whether your own country also treats the company as its taxpayer.
