What a UK limited company needs

Who carries your company: director and shareholder

Your company needs at least one director, who is legally responsible for running it and for making sure its accounts are properly prepared. A director must be 16 or over and does not have to live in the UK. A private limited company does not need a company secretary.

It also needs at least one shareholder. One person can own the whole company and be its only director. The value of a share is yours to set. How far you are liable as director and shareholder is set out in director liability in a UK limited company.

Registered office and email: your company's address

Every limited company needs a registered office. It must be a physical address in the UK, in the same part of the UK where the company is registered: a company registered in Scotland needs a Scottish address. A PO Box no longer qualifies.

The address must also be "appropriate": post sent to the company has to reach you or someone acting for it, and the sender must be able to get confirmation of delivery. A company without such an address could be struck off the register.

The registered office is public on the register, so an address you want to keep private, such as your home, does not belong there. The company also gives an email address, which is not published and which it must read. UK Company Setup includes a registered office for the first year.

PSC: who controls your company

Anyone holding more than 25% of the shares or voting rights is a person with significant control (PSC). PSCs are confirmed at registration, and they too need a verified identity.

If you own the company alone, you are director, shareholder and PSC in one person. With several shareholders, the split of shares and votes decides who counts as a PSC.

Identity verification: required since November 2025

Since 18 November 2025, identity verification at Companies House is a legal requirement. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 wrote it into the Companies Act 2006. Every director and every PSC needs a verified identity.

Online verification accepts a biometric passport from any country, and in most cases it is done only once. Each person then holds a personal code, and the company needs every director's code to register. The route from passport to tax reference: how a UK company is formed.

Corporation Tax: what your company pays

Your company pays 19% Corporation Tax on profits of £50,000 or less and 25% on profits above £250,000, with Marginal Relief in between. A company that is UK resident for tax pays on its profits from the UK and abroad.

There is no tax bill. The tax follows from the company's own return, and the return is filed even when the company makes a loss. A company is usually set up for Corporation Tax at registration; the service is added once it starts to do business.

HMRC writes to the registered office: the Corporation Tax activation code arrives within 10 days, or 21 days if you live abroad. If the company pays you a salary, it must register as an employer, even if you are its only director. Rates and deadlines in detail: UK corporation tax.

Where your company is run

The question that matters most comes from your home country. A company run from there may be treated as resident there too. When two countries both treat a company as resident, their tax treaty settles it: the UK treaties with Germany, Austria and Switzerland treat the company as resident where its place of effective management is situated.

So plan where board decisions are really taken before you register, and check your own country's rules and its treaty with the UK.