United Kingdom

Quickly and cheaply, by international standards. A private limited company (Ltd) is formed online through Companies House. The digital incorporation fee rose to GBP 100 on 1 February 2026, up from GBP 50, and incorporation is usually confirmed within 24 hours. Same-day software filing costs GBP 156. Paper filing costs GBP 124. Since 18 November 2025, every new director and person with significant control must verify their identity under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. Figures current as of 2026. Confirm before relying on them.

Yes. There is no requirement to be a UK resident or citizen to form or direct a private limited company. You will need a UK registered office address, and since 18 November 2025, every director and beneficial owner, wherever they live, must verify their identity with Companies House. The real constraint is rarely formation. It is banking. High-street banks are often reluctant to open accounts for companies controlled from abroad. And there is a separate point on tax, covered below. Incorporation does not settle where the company actually pays tax.

The main rate is 25%, charged on profits above GBP 250,000. Companies with profits up to GBP 50,000 pay the small profits rate of 19%. Marginal relief tapers the effective rate between the two thresholds. This structure has run since 1 April 2023 and was left unchanged at the Autumn Budget 2025. Both thresholds are divided by the number of associated companies, so group and holding structures reach the 25% rate sooner. Rates current as of 2026.

Generally, yes. A company incorporated in the UK is automatically UK tax-resident, under section 14 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009. It pays corporation tax on its worldwide profits, no matter where its directors are based. Sometimes a company is also resident elsewhere, because it is managed and controlled from another country. In that case, a double tax treaty's tie-breaker rule can make it treaty non-resident, leaving only UK-source income taxable here. The reverse can happen too. Running a foreign company from the UK can make that company UK-resident instead. Take advice before assuming either.

Only once taxable turnover crosses GBP 90,000 in any rolling 12-month period. At that point, registration with HMRC is compulsory within 30 days. The threshold is held at that level for 2025/26 and 2026/27. The legal form does not matter here. The test is turnover, not whether you trade as a company. A business with no UK establishment, known as a non-established taxable person, faces a nil threshold and must register from its first taxable UK sale. Thresholds current as of 2026.

Yes. On 6 April 2025 the UK abolished the 226-year-old regime built on domicile and deemed domicile. The concept was deleted from the tax code entirely, and the system was rebuilt around residence instead. In its place is the 4-year Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime, which gives 100% relief on foreign income and gains. That relief runs for only the first four years of UK residence, and only if you have had at least ten consecutive tax years of non-UK residence beforehand. Unlike the old remittance basis, it carries no annual charge, and the relieved money can be spent freely in the UK. But it is a hard four-year window, with no extension. As of 2026 the Finance Bill 2025-26 is still making technical corrective amendments, mostly backdated to 6 April 2025.

Four, under the FIG regime, and not a day more. Years one to four of UK residence bring 100% relief on foreign income and gains. Year five taxes worldwide income and gains at full UK rates, with no transition, no roll-over of unused years and no second chance. The four years are cleaner than the old remittance basis, because relief applies whether or not you bring the money onshore. But the qualifying test is absolute. A single UK-resident tax year in the previous decade, including a split year or accidental residence under the Statutory Residence Test, disqualifies you entirely. Claiming FIG also costs you the income tax and CGT personal allowances. For modest foreign income, the claim can end up loss-making, so it needs to be modelled year by year.

Since 6 April 2025, UK inheritance tax runs on residence, not domicile. Your worldwide estate falls into the 40% charge once you count as a long-term UK resident, meaning you were UK resident in at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years. The widely quoted ten-year tail on leaving is a myth. HMRC's manual at IHTM47020 sets a sliding scale instead. Someone who leaves with 13 or fewer resident years has a tail of just 3 years. That tail rises one for one, up to a maximum of 10 years for anyone with 20 or more years of residence. For a family leaving at year 12 or 13, the gap between the assumed 10 years and the actual 3 can be worth tens of millions. A full reset takes 10 consecutive tax years of non-residence, and even a single year back in the UK during the tail restarts the clock.

Yes, but only until 5 April 2028. The Temporary Repatriation Facility lets former remittance-basis users designate pre-6 April 2025 foreign income and gains at a rate of 12% for amounts designated in 2025/26 or 2026/27. That rate rises to 15% for 2027/28. After that, the ordinary remittance charges of up to 45% come back. As of July 2026, roughly 21 months remain at the 12% rate before the step up on 6 April 2027. Designation is irrevocable, and the tax is due whether or not you ever bring the money onshore. So designating capital you will never remit is a pure cash loss. Finding what counts as qualifying overseas capital inside decades-old mixed funds is expensive forensic work. Firms are quoting six-figure fees for it, which means starting in 2027 may already be too late.

No. The Tier 1 (Investor) visa closed without notice on 17 February 2022 over security concerns. The Home Office cited illegitimately acquired wealth and links to corruption, and no successor route exists. A GBP 5m invite-only investor visa with a 3-year path to settlement has been circulating in government during 2026. This is a leak-and-briefing story, not law. No rules have been laid before Parliament, and the proposal faces resistance from both the Home Office and the Treasury. Any firm still marketing UK investor visa services is selling a route that has not existed since February 2022. As of 2026, treat the proposal as a signal of direction, not a plan.

The Innovator Founder visa and the exceptional talent strand of the Global Talent visa both offer settlement in 3 years. That is materially quicker than most European equivalents. Global Talent is the best value, with fees under GBP 800, no employer tie and full self-employment rights. Endorsement, though, is subjective, and refusal is common. Innovator Founder is not an investor visa in disguise. Endorsing bodies test innovation, viability and scalability, and they conduct contact-point reviews at 12 and 24 months that can withdraw endorsement and collapse the settlement clock. As of the GOV.UK list updated 20 April 2026, there are only three business endorsing bodies. That is a real concentration risk.

Possibly, and that is the sleeper risk in every current UK relocation plan. The May 2025 white paper, Restoring control over the immigration system, proposed making 10 years the standard route to settlement instead of 5 (or 3 on Innovator Founder and Global Talent). The consultation stated the change would apply to everyone in the country who has not already received ILR. At a Westminster Hall debate on 2 February 2026, the Minister confirmed transitional arrangements remain under consultation and gave no assurances to existing applicants. As of July 2026, no rules have been laid and no start date is confirmed, though the Home Secretary indicated in March 2026 that she intends to enact it later in 2026. No grandfathering has been promised. So a 3-year clock started today cannot be assumed to survive.

Yes, the UK permits dual and multiple citizenship. Naturalising as a British citizen does not require you to give up your existing nationality, though your other country may take a different view. Naturalisation generally follows 12 months after Indefinite Leave to Remain. It is immediate for spouses of British citizens, and it requires B1 English plus the Life in the UK test. The passport remains strong, with visa-free access to around 186 destinations as of 2026, though it has slipped from the top-three position it held a decade ago. Note that ILR itself lapses after two years outside the UK, which sits awkwardly with the tax incentive to leave before the long-term resident IHT clock hits ten years.

The figures are contested. Henley & Partners and New World Wealth reported a net loss of roughly 16,500 UK millionaires in 2025, taking some USD 91.8bn of wealth with them. That is more than double the roughly 7,500 reported for 2024. But those numbers come from a firm that sells investment-migration services. A July 2025 review by Tax Policy Associates found the definitions had shifted and the figures did not reconcile. Henley's own 2026 report walked back the framing, acknowledging that other studies found the departures were modest and limited to particular circumstances. The reform is severe enough on its own facts. The 4-year FIG cliff and the residence-based IHT tail are real and quantifiable. Base the decision on those, not on migration counts.