Registering your freelance business/company in another country as a non-resident Thread poster: Baran Keki
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Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 12:02
Member
English to Turkish
I'm interested in registering my freelance business in the UK and getting an office address from there. I see a lot of websites providing company formation services for start-ups and such, and a good majority of them look rather dodgy.
I'm interested in obtaining a London office address that will be listed in the Companies House. I'll continue to do business in Turkey, but would like to keep that address for my purposes. What I'm wondering is if I do this, would I have to pay any taxes to... See more I'm interested in registering my freelance business in the UK and getting an office address from there. I see a lot of websites providing company formation services for start-ups and such, and a good majority of them look rather dodgy.
I'm interested in obtaining a London office address that will be listed in the Companies House. I'll continue to do business in Turkey, but would like to keep that address for my purposes. What I'm wondering is if I do this, would I have to pay any taxes to the UK government? Or is there a way of avoiding this since I'll be working in Turkey.
I've been told to ask this to an accountant (naturally), but I don't know any British accountants. I'm wondering if anybody has done this (registering themselves in two different countries) and has any experience as far as taxation (especially in the UK).
I'll appreciate your input.
Thank you!
[Edited at 2023-07-03 18:15 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-07-03 18:15 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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You can. You would need to study the double tax treaty between Turkey and the UK.
For each type of revenue (business profits, dividends, salary …), it is defined where it is taxed. The main principle for business profits, in case of a business that carries out a part of its activity in another jurisdiction than where it is r... See more You can. You would need to study the double tax treaty between Turkey and the UK.
For each type of revenue (business profits, dividends, salary …), it is defined where it is taxed. The main principle for business profits, in case of a business that carries out a part of its activity in another jurisdiction than where it is registered, is that the profits are taxed in the jurisdiction where they are produced. That would primarily mean Turkey.
I thought about it when you described your Wise travails, but it can quickly get complicated and costly in terms of accountant fees and other expenses, as your run-of-the-mill accountant would not know much about such scenarios, and the ones who do would work for companies like Amazon. To afford that class of accountant, Keki Multinational Ltd. would need a certain turnover. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Why London... | Jul 4, 2023 |
...when Chisinau would have the same effect? Many so-called high caliber agencies are based there, and it would be closer to your home country.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 11:02
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
I wonder if you should be using a company like this one (I don't know them personally -- they just show up in several Google searches... they seem suspiciously cheap).
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In Belgium and in Portugal (the countries where I worked), you need to be considered a resident for tax purposes even if you have a virtual office. I had a virtual office in Brussels for a while until the tax authorities told me my business needed a physical address. In Belgium and in Portugal you can acquire a non-resident status but this comes with a lot of limitations…
| | | | | Mint and no Wise balances for Moldovans | Jul 4, 2023 |
Matthias Brombach wrote:
...when Chisinau would have the same effect? Many so-called high caliber agencies are based there, and it would be closer to your home country.
Wise does not open balances for people and entities in Moldova. That's a good reason. It would also be wise to choose a country whose language one can understand.
https://wise.com/help/articles/2813542/why-cant-i-open-a-wise-balance
That Mint company only shows the price for setting up the company. But you also need to comply with ongoing filing obligations. What does that cost? And is fiscal and legal advice for a two-country setup included?
Baran could easily end up with a 'solution' that is many times worse than the original problem.
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: Original post removed. Thank you! |
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:02
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Baran Keki wrote:
..... if I do this, would I have to pay any taxes to the UK government? Or is there a way of avoiding this .....?
1. Deliberate tax avoidance is illegal. You should not even be asking.
2. Any income you generate in the UK, in any way, is taxable. That includes income from work performed in the UK that is delivered to someone outside the UK.
3. This also includes work delivered by a UK-registered business, and billed from that address, even if the work was performed outside the UK.
4. Needless to say, any such business would be liable for UK tax and other fiscal liabilities.
[Edited at 2023-11-06 13:21 GMT]
| | | | | Purely as a point of language (as this is a language site) | Nov 7, 2023 |
Tom in London wrote:
1. Deliberate tax avoidance is illegal.
Avoidance is minimising one's tax liabilities using legal methods. They might not always be ethical or desirable (it's one reason I don't use Amazon or any of the large high street coffee chops, for instance) but they are legal. More relevant to our freelancer community, in the UK at certain income levels, forming a limited company is a perfectly legal way to avoid a higher personal tax liability in comparison with self-employment.
Evasion is the illegal stuff.
Back to the topic: it might be useful to know what the OP hopes to achieve. It can't be a reputational benefit, as the number of foreign-owned UK (well, England & Wales) registered companies set up for nefarious purposes is common knowledge and our reputation for probity has been shot to pieces of late.
| | | | | Have you considered Estonia instead? | Nov 7, 2023 |
In terms of making things easy for non-residents wishing to run a business, Estonia is the leader (or at least one of the leaders) in the EU. Essentially, you can do everything digitally without having to visit any offices. For details, look at their e-residency website.
[Edited at 2023-11-07 16:41 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:02
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Charlie Bavington wrote:
Avoidance is minimising one's tax liabilities using legal methods. They might not always be ethical or desirable .
EVery year the UK Tax Return declaration gives cheaters a chance by inviting them to specifically declare that they have taken part in "tax avoidance schemes".
The implication, of course, is that "if you've been up to funny stuff, now's your chance to come clean because when we look at the rest of your tax return, if we find anything that seems a bit off, we'll be down on you like a ton of bricks. So now's your chance".
[Edited at 2023-11-07 18:40 GMT]
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 12:02
Member
English to Turkish
TOPIC STARTER
Charlie Bavington wrote:
it might be useful to know what the OP hopes to achieve.
My intention was to continue to be able to use my Wise multicurrency accounts after they were denied to the residents of Turkey at the end of August. I was told to produce a proof of address in a different country in order to be able to use my existing multicurrency accounts. But since the beautiful people of the EU wouldn't allow me to pollute their precious countries with my physical presence, I couldn't go there and provide Wise with a gas bill issued in Düsseldorf, Rotterdam or Genoa, so failing that, I thought I'd form a company in the UK, get a registered office address in London and 'give it to' Wise and continue to use my EUR and USD accounts...
I was thinking of registering the company as dormant after it got listed on the Companies House website so that I could pay as little tax as possible (ideally I wouldn't want to pay anything at all besides registration costs). Long story short, I just took Thomas' advice here and thought better of it.
Right now I'm using the only option available to me, which is Payoneer. It's charging a f*cking king's ransom in service fees. By my estimation, I'll be paying somewhere between 800 to 1200 EUR a year for bank transfers (from Payoneer EUR account to my bank account in Turkey). That's a lot of money. With Wise I'd have paid only a quarter of that amount, and the transfers would've been a lot faster and more reliable. Cost of living in a third world country I suppose...
| | | | | That is true too | Nov 7, 2023 |
Tom in London wrote: Charlie Bavington wrote:
Avoidance is minimising one's tax liabilities using legal methods. They might not always be ethical or desirable . EVery year the UK Tax Return declaration gives cheaters a chance by inviting them to specifically declare that they have taken part in "tax avoidance schemes".
Indeed they do.
They are to do with the exploitation of loopholes, things that are legal for some, but are defo "funny stuff" as you say, when used inappropriately. I seem to recall one was a tax break for reforestation which was well intentioned but abused by other-zealous accountants for the rich & famous. Another is schemes where a company makes interest-free loans to subsidiaries - can be perfectly legit, but if I did it.....
It's on that muddy borderline, isn't it, but I feel their use of "avoidance" is probably at least in part to encourage people, as you say, to come clean. When push comes to shove, hmrc are the arbiter, and if they inspect you and say a deduction you've made doesn't count for tax purposes, you have to accept it or challenge it in court.
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:02
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act | Nov 8, 2023 |
Baran, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act received royal assent at the end of October, and it will make it impossible for a small business to operate without the identities of its directors being verified (which seems reasonable on the face of it).
It might be that you w... See more Baran, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act received royal assent at the end of October, and it will make it impossible for a small business to operate without the identities of its directors being verified (which seems reasonable on the face of it).
It might be that you would have difficulty with that item. Note also the issues around the use of PO boxes as registered addresses, and so on. Providers of corporate services may be able to work round some of these issues while still complying with the law - I don't know - but the intent of the act is to close such loopholes. Some of the provisions, such as not allowing disqualified individuals from becoming directors, are welcome.
None of this has yet been implemented, so the exact nature of any exemptions for micro-entities is unclear. Nevertheless, one should be aware of such issues.
Regards,
Dan
(Edited to correct the URL)
[Edited at 2023-11-08 07:23 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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