Moving to Germany. Do I keep or dissolve my UK Ltd?
January 17, 2011 1:14 PM Subscribe
I run a (very small) UK limited company through which I offer software consultancy. I may soon be moving to Germany. Should I shut down the company and reincarnate as some different legal entity in Germany, or is it easier to keep the Ltd despite living in Germany? And how do I do these things?
Further info:
- I care about which solution is easier and cheaper to do, but not at all which is more tax-efficient. The company makes small enough amounts of money that any tax savings from having a more involved structure would be consumed by the extra fees, never mind the toll on my nerves.
- The company consists of me and a second pro forma director, and has no employees. (It doesn't even employ me. It just pays dividends.)
- I plan to be moving in about October, but it's not absolutely certain that I will.
- I'm a Swiss citizen.
- I feel that I've approximately figured out how to run a UK limited company, and I've spent two years building it up as a name, so if possible I'd prefer to keep it. And I know that there are lots of companies operating in Germany that are registered in the UK, mostly to escape red tape/evade tax (depending on who you ask). But I haven't been able to find any details on how this actually works in practice.
Further info:
- I care about which solution is easier and cheaper to do, but not at all which is more tax-efficient. The company makes small enough amounts of money that any tax savings from having a more involved structure would be consumed by the extra fees, never mind the toll on my nerves.
- The company consists of me and a second pro forma director, and has no employees. (It doesn't even employ me. It just pays dividends.)
- I plan to be moving in about October, but it's not absolutely certain that I will.
- I'm a Swiss citizen.
- I feel that I've approximately figured out how to run a UK limited company, and I've spent two years building it up as a name, so if possible I'd prefer to keep it. And I know that there are lots of companies operating in Germany that are registered in the UK, mostly to escape red tape/evade tax (depending on who you ask). But I haven't been able to find any details on how this actually works in practice.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
(Seriously, I wrote my thesis on European reincorporation ... and my conclusion was that UK Ltd was fine for almost everything)
posted by jannw at 3:04 AM on January 18, 2011
(Seriously, I wrote my thesis on European reincorporation ... and my conclusion was that UK Ltd was fine for almost everything)
posted by jannw at 3:04 AM on January 18, 2011
Somewhere in the past I read an article about German entrepeurs setting up and using UK Ltd structures from inside Germany. I think the rationele was timing of incorporation, cost (lower fees) and lesser filing requirements.
posted by laukf at 4:42 AM on January 18, 2011
posted by laukf at 4:42 AM on January 18, 2011
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I haven't looked into this for years, and IANYL, but it used to be that in order to found a GmbH, that company needed to have a minimum start capital, of 25.000 euros. But, nowadays, there are also mini-GmbHs.
So, for that reason alone, and because of the free traffic of services in the EU, the limited [ltd] got popular outside of Britain as well, as that requires no start capital. So, that suggests you needn't change anything.
However, having said that, this is typically a question much better answered by a Industrie- und Handelskammer in Germany. Turn to the one in the region you might move to
posted by ijsbrand at 1:36 PM on January 17, 2011