UK company formation for non-residents

What a UK company costs, and what changed in 2026

Starter is a fixed quote for year 1. It includes the Companies House fee, a UK registered office for 12 months, guidance through identity verification, the register of people with significant control (PSC register) and a compliance calendar.

Growth (a fixed quote) adds 12 months of mail scanning and a bank-account introduction. Premium (a fixed quote) adds 12 months of bookkeeping and the year-2 annual filing.

Companies House raised its fees on 1 February 2026. Online incorporation went from £50 to £100, and a paper application now costs £124. The confirmation statement filed online went up to £50, or £110 on paper.

From year 2 the renewal is a fixed quote on Starter, including the registered office and the confirmation statement fee. Accounts and the Company Tax Return (form CT600) are priced separately. VAT registration is an add-on service; registration itself is compulsory once taxable turnover passes £90,000.

• Included: £100 Companies House fee, registered office, identity verification guidance, PSC register, reminders
• Included from year 2: registered office and £50 confirmation statement fee
• Separate: annual accounts and CT600, VAT registration, payroll

Identity verification: the new first step

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act changed how UK companies are formed. Since 18 November 2025, identity verification is a legal requirement for directors and people with significant control (PSCs).

Existing directors verify when their company files its next confirmation statement, and a company whose directors have not verified cannot file it.

There are two routes. The free route is the GOV.UK One Login service, which uses an app, security questions or a Post Office visit, and Companies House sets out options for people outside the UK.

The second route is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, meaning an accountant, solicitor or agent registered with Companies House and supervised for anti-money laundering, which can verify you for a fee. Either way you receive a Companies House personal code.

We guide you through the route that fits your passport and country, and we plan the filing around it. If verification is complete before we file, the company can usually be registered within a day.

How long it takes, step by step

Companies House says online applications are usually registered within 24 hours. Paper applications take 8 to 10 days, which is one reason we always file online.

Our timeline starts once both KYC approval and your identity verification are complete, and verification timing depends on you. We then check the name, choose the SIC code (Standard Industrial Classification) for your activity, prepare the articles and file.

You receive the certificate of incorporation and articles in your portal. HMRC then posts the company's Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) to the registered office, usually within 14 days of incorporation. With mail scanning on Growth and Premium, you receive it as a scan in your portal.

• Before day 0: KYC review, and your Companies House identity verification (timing depends on you)
• Business day 0: KYC approved and identity verification complete; name checked and incorporation filed online
• From business day 1: company registered (Companies House usually registers online filings within 24 hours)
• Then: certificate and articles in your portal; the tax reference follows by post

Directors, shareholders, registered office and what is public

A private limited company needs at least one director aged 16 or over, and at least one director must be an individual. Directors can live anywhere, a company secretary is optional, and one person can be the only director and the only shareholder.

The registered office must be a physical address in the UK country where the company is registered, where someone acting for the company can receive and deal with documents. PO boxes are not allowed, and a company without an appropriate address can be struck off. Every company must also give Companies House a registered email address, which is not published.

The UK register is public. Anyone can see directors' names and service addresses, shareholders, and people with significant control, but you can keep your home address off the public record by giving a separate service address.

How the UK taxes your company

Corporation Tax has two rates. Profits of £50,000 or less pay the small profits rate of 19%, and profits over £250,000 pay the main rate of 25%. Between the two, marginal relief gives an effective rate that rises gradually (HMRC, as of September 2026).

VAT is separate. A company must register once its taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or if it expects to go over that amount in the next 30 days alone (HMRC, as of September 2026). You can also register voluntarily below the threshold, which lets you reclaim VAT on costs.

A UK-incorporated company is UK tax resident under HMRC's incorporation rule. If you run it from another country, that country may treat it as tax resident too, and your home rules on foreign companies may apply. Check your own position with a tax adviser.

Annual compliance calendar

Four deadlines run every year, and we put all of them in your calendar from day one. Late accounts bring automatic Companies House penalties, and a missing confirmation statement can lead to prosecution or strike-off. Late HMRC filings and payments bring penalties and interest.

• Confirmation statement: at least once every 12 months, filed within 14 days after the end of the review period
• First accounts: within 21 months of incorporation; after that, within 9 months of the accounting reference date
• Corporation Tax payment: 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period
• Company Tax Return (CT600): within 12 months of the end of the accounting period, even if there is no tax to pay
• Audit: only if the company is not small (2 of 3: turnover up to £15,000,000, assets up to £7,500,000, up to 50 employees)

What you provide and what we handle

For each director and each person with significant control we need a passport copy and a proof of address, plus a completed Companies House identity verification. For the company we need its activity, so we can choose the SIC code, and the split of shares between owners.

If a shareholder is a company, we also need its registry documents and the people behind it.

We handle the name check, the articles, the online filing and the Companies House fee. We provide the UK registered office, keep the PSC register, scan official post from Companies House and HMRC on Growth and Premium, and track the confirmation statement, accounts, tax payment and tax return dates.

If the company's taxable turnover passes the VAT threshold, or you want to register voluntarily, we can register it for VAT as an add-on.

• You provide: passport, address proof, identity verification, business activity, ownership split
• We handle: name, articles, filing, Companies House fee, registered office, PSC register, calendar
• Quoted separately (the filings themselves are required every year): annual accounts and CT600; VAT registration as an add-on

When a UK company fits, and when it does not

A UK Ltd works well for consultants, agencies and e-commerce sellers who invoice UK and European clients and want low running costs. All the main filings can be made online.

Banking is the part to plan. A UK bank account is not a legal requirement, and UK high-street banks may ask for more when no director or owner lives in the UK.

Many non-resident founders start with a UK or European EMI account, which we can introduce on Growth and Premium. The provider decides, and a clear description of your customers and payment flows helps.

If you only sell through US platforms, compare our US LLC page; each platform runs its own seller checks. If you want to keep ownership details off a public register, the UK is the wrong choice, because shareholders and people with significant control appear on the public register.