| TYPE OF COMPANY | LLP | LTD |
| Registered Office in the UK | Obligatorily | Obligatorily |
| Registered Agent | No | No |
| Company Registration Period | 2 – 3 working days; | 2 – 3 working days; |
| Shelf companies | Yes | Yes |
| TAXES | ||
| Taxation | No taxation, provided that the partners are not resident of UK and do not receive income in UK. Partners are required to do tax report at the place of their registration. | |
| Yes, depending from the amount of the company profit. | ||
| Double Taxation Treaty Access | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic Information Exchange Agreement | Yes | Yes |
| SHARES and SHARE CAPITAL | ||
| Minimum Paid-Up Capital | No | No |
| Maximum authorized capital | No | No |
| Standard authorized capital | GBP 1 000 | GBP 1 000 |
| Bearer shares | No | No |
| SHAREHOLDERS and BENEFICIARIES | ||
| Shareholders | Natural or legal persons of any nationality. | Natural or legal persons of any nationality. |
| The minimum number of shareholders | Two (partners) | One |
| Provision of Fiduciary Services | Yes | Yes |
| Publicly available Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Publicly available records on beneficiaries | No | Yes |
| Place of holding of Meetings of Shareholders | Anywhere | Anywhere |
| DIRECTORS | ||
| Directors | Natural or legal persons of any nationality. | Natural or legal persons of any nationality. |
| Minimum number of directors | One | One |
| Provision of Fiduciary Services | Yes | Yes |
| Publicly Available Records | Yes | Yes |
| Board of Directors’ Meeting Location | Anywhere | Anywhere |
| SECRETARY | ||
| Secretary | Not obligatory | Not obligatory |
| Publicly available records | Yes | Yes |
| Provision of Fiduciary Services | Yes | Yes |
| REPORTING | ||
| Keeping of Accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Audit | Yes (only if turnover is more that 6.5 million) | Yes (only if turnover is more than 6.5 million) |
| Filing of Records | Yes | Yes |
General Information
England, in contrast to some widely used in international tax planning jurisdictions, is neither an offshore or low tax area. British companies are required to submit annual returns and accounts. The tax rates in respect of companies registered in England are quite high. What is the secret of the British company to be attractive from the point of view of international tax planning?
First, a British company, according to all without exception European counterparts, is a reliable partner of transparent high tax jurisdiction. Second, banks are more sympathetic to such companies and as a result less requirements are applied. Third, in transactions with companies operating within the European Union and a number of jurisdictions that adopted the law restricting the cooperation with offshore companies, the British company looks solid and reliable.