Im thinking of migrating my company overseas

Im thinking of migrating my company overseas

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Having read this article “Leaving the UK Tax or Migrating a UK Company Offshore , I’m thinking of moving my company overseas. I provide specialised IT & accountancy consultancy services to mainly EU countries including UK (I think I’m international to some extent). I spend over ¾ of the year outside UK – I’m told I qualify to be non-resident. Currently the company is taxed in UK (at 20%) and I’m a UK tax resident. My personal tax is not an issue as I pay myself a dividend and a small salary just enough to avoid any tax at all. Having read some articles online – I’m wondering why I can’t move my company offshore and satisfy the control and management tests by appointing family and friends overseas as directors in my new offshore company, say a Jersey or Guernsey firm. 

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By YellowSticky
06th Mar 2013 19:02

DarkHorse

I can imagine tax practitioners reading your post and shaking their heads in disbelief like I have just done. Time and again you get articles such as the one you have just read cropping up which makes escaping the UK tax net look incredibly simple. Quite unfortunately it is not as simple. New rules on residency make it even more difficult to become non-resident and this is before we consider your global affairs!

As a reality check I usually ask my clients if they would be able to manage if they had to leave the country IMMEDIATELY and if they were restricted from being able to come back for a considerable amount of time!!

I am not saying it is not possible! It is, but it needs to be looked into in detail! We are talking about the entire spectrum of taxes here, Income Tax, Corporate Tax, Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax, VAT, Stamp Duty to name a few!

I would say - have a thorough think about the commitment and be totally prepared for what it will take, including having to cough up professional fees not just for a tax specialist but for a good solicitor!! I warn you now - it will not be cheap!

Appreciate that in the first instance I am going to try talking you out of it to see how committed you really are about this! Happy to discuss further.

 

YellowSticky

 

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