Should you set up a subsidiary or register a branch?
Eight questions covering what drives the decision: liability, disclosure, employment, banking and where early losses can be used.
Open the calculatorWhat does it cost to employ someone in the UK?
Salary is about four fifths of it. Employer National Insurance at 15% and a compulsory workplace pension make up the rest, and the Employment Allowance can be claimed only once across a group.
Open the calculatorWhat will the UK subsidiary pay in corporation tax?
The headline rates are 19% and 25%. The number that decides which applies is how many companies are under common control, anywhere in the world.
Open the calculatorWhat they are built on
All three run on published UK rates and thresholds, in the browser. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is stored, so a figure typed into one of them does not become an enquiry.
What they will not tell you
- The subsidiary or branch checker weighs liability, disclosure, employment and banking. It cannot see whether the parent already has a UK taxable presence through people working here, which changes the answer and is covered in the permanent establishment guide.
- The employment cost calculator covers salary, employer National Insurance, the workplace pension, the Employment Allowance and the sponsorship charges. It does not price benefits, bonuses, equity or the cost of getting the contract wrong.
- The corporation tax calculator applies the associated companies rule, which is what decides the rate for a group. It does not model losses, group relief, capital allowances or research and development relief.
The guides behind the numbers
Each calculator has a guide that explains the rule it applies and where the thresholds come from.
Do you already have a UK tax presence?
A UK taxable presence can exist, and corporation tax accrue, for two years before anything is registered. A UK taxable presence is created by what people do here, not by what has been registered.
Employer of record or your own UK company
An employer of record puts one person on a UK payroll in days without an entity. It does not give the group a UK company, and it does not settle whether the parent has a UK taxable presence.
Subsidiary or branch: how to choose
One creates a new UK company. The other extends the existing one into the UK. The choice turns on liability, what the public register shows, and what happens to early losses.
Primary sources
Every rate, threshold and deadline on this site is checked against these. They are the originals, not summaries.
- Corporation tax rates and the associated companies rule
- VAT registration threshold
- Audit exemption and the small-group limits
- Companies House filing fees
- Identity verification at Companies House
- Employers' liability insurance: the legal requirement
- Automatic enrolment: employer duties
- Employment rights: written statement of terms
Get a fixed quote
Tell us where the parent company is and what the UK operation has to do.
