Register a company but not use it

museudf

Hi all

I am planning on setting up a consulting company. I want to register the name today but I may not start the business till say september. Is there a downside to doing this do I need to pay any sort of montly fee for having a ltd company. I hope this is clear, if you have any questions please do ask. Thank you.

Astaroth

There is no fee for having a company directly but you obviously must make the necessary annual returns etc for which most people pay an accountant to do.

If you do register it now and intend to have it as dormant make sure you get good advice from your accountant about if you have to inform the tax man etc given that you are an employee of the company but there will be no trading etc

museudf

Hi thanks for the reply astaroth. I was hoping to not use an accountant. Because to start of with I will not be doing so much bussiness. Is it possible for me to do the paper work myself or is this not possible. Thank you for your help so far.

richt71

You can register a company at any time mate and already mentioned you just need to inform companies house it's a non trading company until you do trade. I have a company that has been dormant for 2 years but it's a good name I want to keep. Just costs me £15 a year in annual returns as there are obviously no accounts to prepare.
By the way you can change the date of your returns once you have the company. I'd get accountant advise but companies house are very helpful for general enquiries.

motorguy

Also every year they ask you to validate a list of directors, shares held etc, and that costs you £20

You should just be able to fill in a 'null return' for a dormant company.

museudf

Thats perfect, its the anwers I have been looking for, thanks guys

jmarko

Be aware that registering a company gives you few rights over the name. Indeed, if you are not trading, it is unlikely to give you any of any substance. You will need to register a trade mark to give you that sort of protection.

You might like to discuss this with a solicitor.

kennyboy66_2

Things that I would consider;

If you mean setting up a limited company, try to get the incorporation date to be the first of the month - it makes life slightly easier in the future. You can usually set up a limited company up for around £100.

You can easily do the annual return yourself & make a small saving by doing the return over the internet. Not worth paying an accountant to do this.

Make sure you register for VAT if appropriate. You don't have to if your turnover is less than £61k however If all your sales are to be made to VAT registered companies I would say you should register.

If you are to be an employee of your company your should do your PAYE returns over the internet. Inland Revenue will pay you £150 to do it this way this year. Again easy to do yourself. Inland Revenue website easy to use and easy to calculate PAYE & NI.

Consider the mix of what you want to take out of the company if pay, dividends & pension contributions. Unless you are an expert it may be worth getting advice on this.

Good luck