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Can you start/register a company in UK without being a UK citizen and living elsewhere? If so, what are the implications?

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You can certainly register a limited company in the UK, however you'll need a registered office in the UK. You can register a company online and the registered office will be your company agent's address. It cost me less than £200 to register my company, and the price also included:

  • a UK-based registered office for 2 years with statutory mail forwarding,
  • preparation and filling of anual returns for 2 years,
  • a domain,
  • £50 Google Adwords voucher,
  • a few ebooks on running a business,
  • PAYE registration,
  • a training course on running a company in London, etc.

If you trade from abroad you'll also need apostilled documents to open a bank account in your country (this cost me £120). The Companies House website also says you'll have to send anual returns and anual accounts at least every half a year, however I don't know yet whether they mean anual returns/accounts as if they were sent at the end of a year or just working compies of those reports. The information on the website is slighly unclear, and I'm going to contact the CH regarding this issue.

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Thanks for the details! Do you need to travel in UK to open a bank account? – user16307 Feb 18 '12 at 15:09
Yes, to open a bank account in England you'll need to go there, however having a bank account in England is not necessary, and you may as well open a bank account in your country, and then pay all taxes and other charges by a credit card. – lukeshek Feb 18 '12 at 15:14
There is one more important thing you want to know. If you're going to have a company in England and get paid salary, you'll have to come to England and get a National Insurance number. Without NI you'll be only able to get money from dividends, or sign any other contract under your local law. – lukeshek Feb 18 '12 at 16:57
This is for a UK limited company that is trading in the UK. You can also register a non resident company in which case you do not pay taxes in the UK. This can be very convenient for a number of reasons. – user239558 Feb 19 '12 at 20:09
In some countries directors of UK companies are exempt from incom tax in the country, where they live. If I worked in England, yet spent more time in my country, I'd have to pay tax in my country. However, as a company director, I'd pay taxes in England, where the tax-free allowance is a few times higher than in my country. I can this way save about £1,600 each year. – lukeshek Feb 20 '12 at 15:04
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This link on the UK Companies House website would be a good place to start:

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/infoAndGuide/companyRegistration.shtml

There is also a (partial) list of company formation agents who can take care of the formalities on your behalf, for a fee:

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/toolsToHelp/formationAgents.shtml

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