HMRC registrations for a new UK company
Corporation tax, PAYE, VAT, the construction scheme and an EORI number for imports. Four different applications, four different clocks, and the references all arrive by post to the registered office.
Corporation tax, PAYE, VAT and the other HMRC registrations
Companies House and HMRC are different organisations, and incorporating the company registers it with neither for tax. There are up to five separate applications, each with its own clock, and every reference arrives by post weeks later. Groups that used a cheap formation agent usually find this out when a penalty arrives.
What you get
- Corporation tax within 3 months of trading
- PAYE before the first payday
- VAT, compulsory or voluntary
- EORI number for imports
- Construction scheme where it applies
- All references held on file
What we do
Corporation tax
Due within three months of the company starting to do business, which is wider than invoicing and includes buying, advertising, employing and renting.
PAYE
Applied for as soon as a hire is agreed, not when they start, because the employer reference takes weeks and payroll cannot be filed without it.
VAT
Compulsory above £90,000 of taxable turnover in a rolling twelve months, and often worth doing voluntarily first so the VAT on your set-up costs comes back.
EORI and customs
The reference you need before goods can cross the border, applied for alongside the VAT registration.
The construction scheme
Only where you pay subcontractors for construction work, which catches more groups than expected, including some only fitting out an office.
Agent authorisation
We are appointed as your agent for each tax, so HMRC's post and enquiries come to us rather than to somebody in another timezone.
Incorporating the company registers it with Companies House. It does not register it with HMRC, and the two organisations are separate. A new UK subsidiary needs up to five HMRC registrations, each with its own application, its own deadline and its own reference number, and each reference arrives by post at the registered office over the following weeks. Groups that incorporate through a cheap online formation agent often discover this months later, when a penalty arrives.
The registrations and their deadlines
- Corporation tax. Within three months of the company starting to do business. "Doing business" is wider than invoicing and includes buying, advertising, employing and renting. We register on the day the company starts.
- PAYE. Before the first payday. The employer reference takes a few weeks to arrive and payroll cannot be filed without it, so we apply as soon as a hire is agreed rather than when they start.
- VAT. Compulsory once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling twelve months, or when it is expected to pass it within thirty days. Voluntary registration is usually worth it where the company will incur UK costs before it sells. The threshold applies to a business established in the UK: a business with no UK establishment selling taxable goods or services here has no threshold and registers from the first sale.
- An EORI number. Needed before goods can be imported or exported. Applied for with the VAT registration.
- The Construction Industry Scheme. Only where the company pays subcontractors for construction work, which catches more groups than expected, including some that only fit out an office.
Why the order matters
The registrations depend on each other. VAT registration is smoother once the company has a corporation tax reference and a bank account. PAYE is faster once the company's details at Companies House are settled. And an application made before the company can evidence UK trade tends to come back with questions, which adds weeks. We sequence them rather than firing them all off on day one.
Agent authorisation
We are appointed as the company's agent with HMRC for each tax, so post and enquiries come to us and we can act without the group being asked to log in to a UK government account from another country. The company keeps its own access; it does not have to use it.
What we need from you
- The date the company started or will start doing business
- What it will sell, to whom and where
- When the first employee starts
- Whether goods will cross a border, and who handles customs
Common questions
Companies House said they would tell HMRC. Is that enough?
No. Companies House passes on the company's existence, but the company must still register for corporation tax itself within three months of starting to do business, and separately for PAYE and VAT.
How long do the references take?
Corporation tax typically a couple of weeks, PAYE a few weeks, VAT usually a few weeks and longer where HMRC asks for evidence of the UK establishment. All of them arrive by post at the registered office.
Can we start trading before they arrive?
Yes. You can trade, invoice and sign contracts. You cannot run payroll without a PAYE reference or charge VAT before you have a VAT number, so the sequence matters if a hire or a big sale is imminent.
Related services
Setting up a UK subsidiary
QuotedIncorporation and the registrations that follow
Incorporation, the ownership register, identity verification for each director, then corporation tax, PAYE and VAT registrations. One fee, everything a new UK company must have.
Registering a UK branch (a UK establishment)
QuotedA UK branch of the existing company, registered at Companies House
Registration within the one-month deadline, the parent's constitution and accounts filed, the branch registered for corporation tax, VAT and PAYE, and the annual filings kept up.
Registered office and company secretarial
QuotedA UK registered office and the company's filings
Our office as the registered office, every official letter opened and sent on the same day, the registers kept, and the confirmation statement filed each year.
Get a fixed quote
Tell us where the parent company is and what the UK operation has to do.
