I Do Not Live In The UK. Can I Run My Limited Company From Overseas?

As an international entrepreneur considering running a UK company from abroad, the good news is that it is perfectly possible to do so. Indeed, many people live in another jurisdiction while successfully running a company in the UK. While not being physically present in the UK is not a barrier to running a limited company here, it helps enormously to have professionals and experts based here who can assist with the forming and running of your business. This is where Uniwide Formations can help you. We offer professional business support to both prospective and seasoned companies. In this guide, we will explain all that you need to know about running a UK-limited company from overseas.

Is running a UK company from abroad possible?

Absolutely, many international business people run a UK limited company as a director, shareholder or secretary but live in another country. There are some important matters to consider before you establish a limited company in the UK. We recommend that you take the time to understand the legal and tax implications of running a company in either England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. 

Once you have decided that you wish to run a UK company from abroad, you will first need to register your company with Companies House. You will also need to register with HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) to pay any tax you may owe as a UK-limited company.

Who might consider running a UK company from abroad?

Running a UK-limited company from overseas is a popular choice for many professionals, especially:

• Freelancers – e.g. web developers, graphic designers, or digital marketers.
• E-commerce entrepreneurs – e.g. traders who run an online store selling physical or digital products. 
• Tech startups – e.g. startup founders who want to launch a tech platform to tap into the UK market.
• Consultants and coaches – e.g. international business consultants who want to offer services to clients in the UK.
• Foreign investors – e.g. foreign investors who wish to invest in UK real estate, technology, or other sectors.
• Service providers – e.g. Overseas lawyers or other professionals offering services in the UK. 
• Non-UK entrepreneurs with expanding businesses – e.g. an overseas food retailer with plans to expand into the UK market.

Registering your company name with Companies House

One of the first steps in setting up a company in the UK is deciding on and registering your company name. You must, however, adhere to the UK’s strict rules for company names even if you are physically not based here. This means you will need to ensure that your company name is not the same or too similar to an existing registered company and does not contain sensitive words such as ‘royal’. 

To ensure that your company name is unique, Uniwide Formations offers a free company name checker that will do the hard work for you. Once you have confirmed that the name you have chosen for your company is unique, you can then proceed to the next step and register your new company via our online customer portal.

Registering an overseas company with a presence in the UK.

Overseas companies are legally required to register with Companies House if they establish a business presence in the UK by completing and submitting form OS IN01 (Register a UK establishment of an overseas company). This must be done within 1 month of opening a business in the UK. It is important to bear in mind that you cannot register an overseas partnership or unincorporated body in the UK. You will be asked to provide information on your overseas company and your UK establishment. 

The service address that you register for your limited company must be physically in the UK. This will appear on the public register as the company’s office address. All statutory mail from official bodies, including HMRC and Companies House, will be sent to this address. If you choose to use a business formations company such as Uniwide Formations, we can offer you a registered office address as part of the business support package and statutory mail will be scanned and forwarded to you by e-mail free of charge.

Providing a director’s service address

Any director, shareholder, secretary or person with significant control (PSC) must provide a service address. This is the address that will be held on public record. It can be anywhere in the world. Any statutory mail and legal correspondence will be sent to that director’s service address.

Taxation when running a UK company from abroad

One of the key considerations of running a UK company from abroad is taxation. As an international entrepreneur who lives outside the UK but runs a company here, you may need to pay income tax on your UK income. This is because any time that you spend in the UK, even briefly, may mean that you must pay personal taxes on money that you make while in the UK. This will be in addition to any personal tax that you must pay in your own country of residence. 

Your company will need to pay Corporation Tax regardless of where you or any other company directors live. It is a requirement to register your UK company for Corporation Tax with HMRC within three months of registering your company; however, this is normally done automatically at the same time. We recommend ensuring that you leave time for the registration process since you will need to use the Unique Tax Reference that will be posted to your address in order to complete your registration. The amount of corporation tax your company will pay to HMRC will depend on the amount of profit made:

Rate	2024 corporation tax rate
Small profits (under £50,000)	19%
Main rate (over £250,000)	25%

You may also need to consider other taxes, such as:

• Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax
• National Insurance for any workers that your UK operation employs, and 
• Value Added Tax (VAT) charged on goods and services sold by your business in the UK.

Meeting your filing obligations as an overseas-based UK company director

By running a UK company from abroad, you will still need to meet the same company filing obligations as a director based in the UK. All registered companies are legally required to:

• Prepare and submit annual accounts to Companies House each year
• Prepare and submit a Confirmation Statement each year – this makes sure that the information held by Companies House on your company and those with interests in it is completely up to date. Your company’s confirmation statement will be due 14 days after the anniversary of the date of incorporation or the date you filed the last confirmation statement.

Because you are based overseas, it is essential to instruct UK-based professionals who you can rely on to handle your filing obligations each year. We can recommend the services of a UK accountant who can handle your annual accounts, PAYE, VAT and any other tax filing requirements. In addition, we offer a Confirmation Statement filing service to make the process of submitting your Confirmation Statement on time as easy as possible.  

What is the Statutory Residence Test?

If you plan to spend some time in the UK and some time in another country, it is advisable to complete the Statutory Residence Test. This is because the amount of personal tax you pay will depend on whether you are classed as a resident or not. To check if you are a resident for tax purposes, you can use the government’s Statutory Residence Test (SRT). This enables you to assess your residence status for a tax year and considers the amount of time you spend in the UK and the connections you have with the UK. 

Broadly speaking, if you are considered a UK tax resident, you are liable for Income Tax on your global income. However, if you are not a UK tax resident, you will only be required to pay UK Income Tax on income earned within the UK.

Opening a business bank account if running a UK company from abroad

It is advisable to open a business bank account in the name of your limited company to separate your business and personal finances. Unfortunately, due to the checks carried out by UK banks when opening an account, it can be difficult for a person who does not live here to do so. UK banks will normally ask for evidence of your identity and residence in the UK as part of their client due diligence and money laundering checks. 

As an overseas-based entrepreneur with business interests in the UK, you can use your existing bank account, but this may make it more difficult to transfer and handle your business funds in the country. Many non-resident UK company owners choose to use cross-border international payment service partners, Wise, Payoneer, and Airwallex. These service providers are similar to banks but are much more flexible and accommodating for foreign nationals and/or overseas residents.

How to Open a Business Bank Account for Non-UK Resident

Wrapping up

We hope this guide has helped you understand how to run a UK company from abroad. Before you decide to set up a company in the UK while living abroad, it is important to do your ‘homework’ in terms of the tax you will need to pay, your filing requirements, the skills and expertise you will need on hand to help support your UK business and your banking requirements. We wish you all the best with your new business venture in the UK!

Navigating your way through the challenges of registering and running a UK-based limited company from overseas or relocating abroad and keeping your UK limited company running will be hard work, but we can help. Uniwide Formations offers a range of packages tailored to suit the needs of companies of all shapes and sizes.