UK Company Formation...

Everything you need to know about setting up in the UK.

UK Company Formation Wizard

Use our helpful tool to see what's required to set up your company in the UK.

Setting Up in The UK

A practical guide to what’s involved, and what you can expect to happen during this process.

FAQs

Get answers to commonly asked questions about company formation, accounting and taxes.

Our Services...

From accounting to personalised telephone answering – everything your company needs to thrive in the UK.

UK Company Formation

Company formation, memorandum and articles registration and appointing Directors and Shareholders.

Legal Compliance

Covering various business operations such as company secretary, registered office, handling post and more.

Outsourced Finance Office

Complete administrative support for your UK company designed especially for foreign businesses.

Bank Account Opening

Operate from day one with a virtual Bank account that can be opened immediately.

Virtual Office Service

UK business address, personalised phone answering service, mail handling, access to the meeting room.

Advisory Services

Advice on formation, directorship and other relevant rules and regulations related to setting up in the UK.

Brokerage Services

A single entry point to services frequently required in the early stages of company development.

About EBS...

Find out more about EBS, how we operate and what we stand for – or simply get in touch with us.

Who we are and how we work

We work exclusively with foreign-owned businesses in the UK and understand the problems they face.

Our Team

Behind every successful business is a great team - meet the team that makes up EBS.

Contact Details

Our address and contact details. If you need to get in touch with us, you can email us here.

Who we work with...

Explore our case studies and see how we work with foreign companies, helping them set up in the UK.

What's happening in the Industry

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Helpful Guides and Documents

We’ve created some helpful guides and documents covering topics such as Britain’s History and Geography, The Legal System, Formalities and more. 

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We’d love to hear from you! – if you have any questions, please get in touch with us on phone, email or social media, and our friendly team will be pleased to help.

Head Office

EBS Ltd, Innovation Centre, Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6UW

London Office

EBS Ltd, 118 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5EA

VAT

Brexit and treatment of Import VAT from 1 January 2021

The Brexit Transition Period comes to an end on 31st December and therefore, whatever arrangements for future trade may be agreed, the treatment of Import VAT will change and there will be cash flow implications from this.

Let us first remind ourselves of the situation today.

Firstly imports from EU countries –

No VAT is payable on importing goods to the UK from EU Member States. Exports from EU countries to the UK are zero rated for VAT on entering the UK and a “Reverse Charge” process is implemented. The transactions are all taken care of in the quarterly VAT declaration.

Secondly imports from everywhere outside the EU, so Switzerland and Norway are included in this group –

Import VAT is payable before the goods are released from the harbour. Then technically a form called a C79 is issued and this can be used to reclaim the VAT already paid when the next quarterly VAT declaration is submitted.

Clearly there are significant cash flow requirements for this non EU group when importing goods in to the UK.

So, what happens next?

From 1 January 2021 all imports from every country must be treated in the same way. The UK Government has decided that it will not collect the Import VAT on all goods entering the UK from 1st January 2021 from any country. There will be a system called “Postponed Accounting” under which the Import VAT and the reclaim will both be handled in the next VAT declaration for the company.

In practical terms what does this mean?

For imports from EU countries, no change in the cash flow but technical changes to the processing of the documentation and the quarterly VAT declaration.

For imports from Non EU countries, from 1 January 2021 no requirement to fund and pay for Import VAT as the goods enter the UK, therefore saving a lot of cash flow.

The EU will continue to follow the current procedure and require payment of Import VAT in the first EU country to which the goods arrive before releasing the goods from the harbour. The new UK arrangements will make the UK the simplest European country into which to import goods from outside the EU.

Please note that all EU importers to the UK must have an EORI (Economic Operator Registration and Identification) number and this must be shown on the supplier invoice.

The rules on the rate of Import duty, if any, still need the UK and EU to agree before 31 December 2020.

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Warwick Office

EBS Ltd, Innovation Centre, Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6UW

London Office

EBS Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ

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