UK LLP + business bank account under $89 – full guide

Learn how to register a UK LLP and open a bank account – everything done online without moving from your couch. It’s fast and easy – it takes less than two business days, but most important it’s very affordable. The total setup will cost less than $89. We share all our links and contacts to start you with a UK LLP company and business bank account – everything under $89.

Businesses formed in well-known tax heaven jurisdictions that don’t require maintaining records, bookkeeping, and no taxation usually raise eyebrows and are blacklisted. This complicates many things starting from bank account opening, invoicing, brokerage accounts to owning assets. The United Kingdom and its Limited Liability Partnerships are not the typical tax heaven business structure, yet they can be completely tax-free. And this is one of the cheapest business structures available.

Compare popular company formation jurisdictions

UK Limited Liability Partnerships can be used by Amazon FBA sellers, Amazon affiliates, Freelancers and most online business models. Keep on reading to learn more about UK LLP for tax-free Amazon FBA, what they cover, why they’re beneficial to your business and how to register one for less than $89.

What is a UK LLP?

In the United Kingdom, an LLP – also known as “Limited Liability Partnership” – is a business formed and run by at least two members natural person or cooperate bodies (other companies).

It’s worth noting that the UK LLP is governed by The Limited Liability Act 2000 and the act identifies the establishment as a separate legal entity from the members. The business can continue to exist independent of its members.

UK Limited Liability Partnership Benefits

This legal structure comes with plenty of advantages that all the partners can enjoy.

These benefits include:

UK LLP – no cooperate TAX

UK LLP’s are treated as partnerships and are transparent for tax purposes – it is not a taxable entity. Only members are liable to pay income TAX based on their share of the LLP’s income.

No UK income TAX

LLP members that don’t derive their income in the UK and don’t have UK residents as partners are exempt from paying UK income Taxes. As a result, if you are a non-UK resident and your business operations are not located in the UK, you pay zero cooperate TAX and zero income TAX.

Minimum capital not required

To form a UK Limited Liability Partnership, you don’t require any minimum capital (as per the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008)

Director or secretary not required

Only two partners are required to form a UK LLP. Anyone 16 years old or over or another company (cooperate members) can partner in a UK LLP. There are no directors, shareholders, and secretaries, which makes this structure very simple and straightforward.

UK LLP Online Registration

The whole registration process can be done online. It usually takes up to 24 working hours to have your LLP registered.

UK Limited Liability Partnership Remote banking options

In this guide we cover opening a Transferwise Borderless Account for a UK LLP. Once opened, you will have a complete business account under your LLP name, available in eight currencies, including GBP, USD and Euro. It comes with a company debit Mastercard. You can use your bank account to accept payments, transfer money, or pay for expenses. Traditional brick and mortar UK banks will require a visit to a branch to open an LLP bank account.

Large VAT Threshold

VAT registration is required when your turnover exceeds £85,000. In short, this is one of the highest VAT thresholds in the EU

Separate Legal Entity

LLP members’ liability is limited to their contributions. Additionally, an LLP can hold real estate, property and take debts under its name.

Low registration and maintenance costs

This structure is one of the cheapest with a low maintenance cost. The registration fee is £40 paid to Companies House. Using our suggested agent, the fee registration fee + 1-year registered office is only £42.00 + VAT (in total £48.40). That is less than US $89. After that, the annual office fee is £29.00 + VAT and the annual Confirmation Statement £13 is paid to the Companies House.

Minimum reporting requirements

There are three statements you need file annually:

1. Self-assessment tax (SA800) – if no work is performed in the UK and you are a non-UK resident, no tax is paid, but we still need to submit this form every financial year. You can do it online using an agent. This one will set you back £9.99.
2. Annual Confirmation Statement – you can do it online by uploading documents to the Companies House – cost £13
3. Annual accounts – you are not required to use a professional accountant to submit your annual accounts. Additionally, as a micro or small LLP, you are exempt from an auditor’s report and audit. To qualify as a small LLP, your turnover must be less than £6.5 million. For more information, check the UK Companies House website.

How to Register a UK LLP with a London address for £48.40 (~ US $70)

To register a UK Limited Liability Partnership, you will need:

• a name for your LLP (you need to check availability)
• a UK address (if you choose to form with an agent, they usually provide this service)
• at least two designated members (can be a natural person or cooperate) body)
• LLP agreement (usually supplied by formation agent)
• register with Companies House (also done by formation agent)

You can choose from a list of registered agents directly from the UK Companies House website.

We compared the formation agents and worked with 1st Choice Formations. They are certainly one of the cheapest formation agents available and provide a full package UK LLP registration for non-UK residents. Above all, they are an Authorized by Companies House formation agent, with a completely automated registration system.

* We receive no kickback or financial benefits from suggesting this formation agent. You may go through the list of agents supplied on the UK Companies House website and compare their services and prices.

What we like about 1st Choice Formations:

• low prices and simple formation packages
• transparent and affordable renewal packages
• free mail document scanning and sharing
• formation packages tailored for UK non-residents
• online company management portal

Personally, we are very satisfied with the services offered by 1st Choice Formations and can honestly recommend them for UK LLP registration. In addition, they have an excellent customer rating as a UK formation agent issued by Trustpilot.

The whole registration process is straightforward and takes around 20 minutes. Most important, you can do everything online through their registration portal. You will need to enter details of your newly formed LLP and details of partners/members. Once complete, you should have your LLP documents sent to you by email within 24 working hours.

After you have successfully received the LLP Certificate of Incorporation, you will need to verify your identity with 1st Choice Formations. They are registered for Money Laundering Regulations with HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs). In other words, the money laundering regulations require 1st Choice Formations to verify your details for you to use their office address. To verify your identity, you will need to submit your ID (for example, passport, driving license, ID card, or student card) and a document verifying your address (for example, utility bill, bank statement, bank letter, insurance letter, etc.). You can send scanned copies of these documents via email. All documents should either be in English or accompanied by an English translation by an Official Sworn Translator.

How to remotely open a bank account for a UK LLP for £16

Based on our personal experience, we suggest opening a business account with Transferwise Borderless.

Why we chose Transferwise as our business account:

Check out our full Transferwise Borderless Account review here.

To open a Transferwise Borderless Account you will need:

• Identity documents (for example, passport, driving license, national ID card)
• Business details – your LLP incorporation certificate and additional information about the business activities, source of income and any online or social presence (website/URL)
• If the partner of an LLP is another company, Transferwise needs a copy of its business registration document
• Your personal details and your role in the business

Get started with opening a business Transferwise borderless account.

The whole process is very straightforward and usually takes around 2 – 3 business days to complete.

UK LLP TAX free Amazon FBA and Amazon Associates

A well-structured UK LLP allows you to run your Amazon FBA and Amazon Associates business tax-free or with minimum tax liabilities.

Example:

Roger, a French citizen but with UAE tax residency, has a thriving Amazon FBA business. Firstly, he sources products in China and sells them on Amazon FBA in the US. Roger does all the transactions through his UK LLP completely TAX-free, as he doesn’t earn any income from the UK. All company profits distributed to Roger are also tax-free as UAE doesn’t have an income tax.

UK LLP’s also allow cooperate bodies to be members. This is a huge advantage for people who are tax residents in higher income tax countries. In short, it allows the LLP profit distribution to corporate body members in low tax or tax-free jurisdictions.

Both options help optimize your tax burden while you can benefit from a great jurisdiction reputation.

Disadvantages

LLP members public disclosure – all of the registered members are on public record on the Companies House website. Still, if you wish to maintain full privacy, you can use two corporate bodies to register your LLP. As a result, you can avoid your name being publicly listed as a member of an LLP.

Minimum two members to register a UK LLP – this can be a problem if you don’t have a second member (legal person or separate company registered in any jurisdiction) during the Limited Liability Partnership formation. However, most formation agents offer a partnership service, where they hold 1% partnership in your LLP. For instance, 1st Choice Formation charges £30 for this service.

Profits of an LLP can not be retained for the next financial year -all profits must be distributed to its members each financial year. This is not favorable for members being tax residents in high tax countries. The only way to avoid it would be to hold another company in a low-tax country as a member of your LLP.

Summery UK LLP Tax free structure for Freelancers and remote businesses

Incorporating in low tax and tax-free jurisdictions often raise eyebrows. As a result, an offshore company registered in Vanuatu or Belize often makes opening bank accounts, PayPal or Stripe accounts more difficult and sometimes impossible. Invoicing and getting payments to companies registered in exotic locations might raise more questions and doubt. Otherwise, it can be expensive both in registration and maintenance (e.g., Hong Kong or Singapore). On the other hand, UK LLP’s have a great reputation. Secondly, they have substantial tax advantages and are an excellent option for digital marketers, freelancers and other online businesses.

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Disclaimer: We are not financial advisors, all opinions are our own. Content on our website, is not intended to provide personal tax or financial advice. This information is intended to be used and must be used for information purposes only.