Setting up a UK company 2026
Your company name. Your limited company. We get you through the identity checks, incorporation and tax reference cleanly, with a plan for year one.
| Legal form | Private limited company (Ltd) |
| Identity verification | Compulsory for directors and PSCs since 18 November 2025 |
| Government fee | £100 for online incorporation |
| Time at Companies House | Usually within 24 hours of filing |
| Registered office | Must be in the UK; directors may live abroad |
| Corporation tax | 19 to 25 percent depending on profit |
What has changed about forming a company
For decades the UK limited company was the quickest company in Europe to set up: a form, a fee, done. Anyone still expecting that is in for a surprise. Since 18 November 2025 identity verification for Companies House is a legal requirement. Whoever incorporates a new company gives a personal code for each director, and you only get that code once you have passed the check. No code, no company.
The check runs online through GOV.UK One Login, with a biometric passport from any country. If the app stalls on your ID or your address, there is a second recognised route, and we take you through it.
A person newly registered as a PSC supplies their code at incorporation or within 14 days. Missing these duties can be an offence: Companies House warns of prosecution, a fine or a financial penalty. It is not a formality; it is the new ticket in.
How your formation runs
Four steps, most of them from your desk.
- 1
1. Settle the structure
Who holds the shares, who becomes a director, where will the company actually be run? Those answers decide where the company pays tax. We put them in writing before anything is filed.
- 2
2. Verify identities
Every director and every person with significant control is verified. You send your identity document, home address and email. Your personal code arrives by email from Companies House.
- 3
3. Incorporation
The application covers the name, registered office, directors, shareholders, shares and articles. Companies House usually incorporates online applications within 24 hours. You receive the certificate of incorporation and the register of members.
- 4
4. Start with HMRC
Incorporation normally puts the company on HMRC's corporation tax records too. You receive the ten-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), which we set up and explain, plus your deadline calendar for year one.
Where your company pays tax
A company incorporated in the UK is UK resident for tax. UK corporation tax is 25 percent on profits over £250,000 and 19 percent up to £50,000, with marginal relief in between. The full calculation is in our piece on UK corporation tax.
Now the point where most formations from abroad go wrong. Most European countries also treat a company as resident, and tax it, if it is managed and controlled from within their borders, wherever it is registered. Run your UK company from your kitchen table in Rotterdam or Stockholm and you may well have a company your home country taxes in full. When two countries both claim a company, the treaty between them decides, and where the company is actually managed carries great weight. How the UK's treaties settle these conflicts is explained in our piece on the UK's tax treaties.
So the question of who decides what, and where, belongs at the start of a formation, not the end. If you are building the UK business as a subsidiary of your existing company or as a branch, the comparison is in branch or subsidiary.
What to have ready
For a standard formation you need:
- A valid passport or identity card for each director and each PSC, plus their current home address
- A separate email address per person, to which Companies House sends the personal code
- Your preferred company name and a fallback
- A short description of the business for the industry codes (SIC codes)
- Shareholders with shares and capital; for corporate shareholders, an extract from their register
- An email address for the company that someone actually reads, for Companies House
Registered office, email and directors: the required details
Directors need not live in the UK, but the company needs a registered office in the UK. A PO box no longer qualifies, and the address is public. That is why the registered office for the first year is included, with official post forwarded to you. Since the reform every company also needs a registered email address, which is not published but is where Companies House sends important messages.
At least one director must be a natural person aged at least 16. A company secretary is optional for a private limited company. If you need a public company with listing plans, the PLC is covered in our UK PLC section.
Year one in deadlines
What comes after incorporation. The exact dates go into your deadline calendar.
| Duty | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Confirmation statement | every year, £50 fee online |
| Pay corporation tax | 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period |
| Company tax return CT600 | 12 months after the end of the accounting period |
| Annual accounts at Companies House | within the Companies Act deadlines |
| VAT, if you make taxable supplies in the UK | before the first sale |
GOV.UK: Pay your Corporation Tax bill; Company Tax Returns; Companies House fees
Frequently asked questions
Can I form the company myself?
Yes, through the Companies House online service, if your identity check goes through. What you then sort out yourself: place of management, tax at home, registered office, deadlines. That is what this product is for.
Do I need to travel to the UK?
No. Identity verification works from any country, and incorporation is electronic.
Does the formation come with a bank account?
The bank opens the account, not Companies House. We prepare the documents and tell you which banks realistically take companies with shareholders abroad. More in our banking section.
Does a member of staff in the UK need a visa?
Anyone without the right to live in the UK needs a visa to work there. There are specific routes for setting up a foreign company's first UK presence. Our visas section gives the overview.
What does the formation cost?
The government fee for online incorporation is £100. Our package price appears in the order box once it is released; until then we quote it on request.