Forming your company can take as little as 3 working hours using Contractor UK’s formation service.
VAT
If your sales exceed a certain figure you need to register for VAT; there are benefits to registering for VAT voluntarily before you reach that figure. Read the Basic of VAT and how to register here.
Companies House
As part of your responsibilities you need to notify Companies House of any changes to your company. If you have formed your company through CUK you can log in to your admin section to perform many of these, such as change of registered address or change of Directory/Secretary particulars. Alternatively you can do this direct with Companies House through Webfiling. Their system will enable you to file changes to your company information online, as a new user you will need to apply for authentification codes first of all.
You will also need to complete an Annual Return. (This form comes from Companies House and asks for details of directors, secretary, address, shareholdings and trading activities – completed once a year)
HMRC
Various forms will need completing throughout the course of the year, all of which your accountant will help you with. You can expect:
Form CT41g (New Company enquiry form)
VAT Returns (Assuming you are VAT registered you will get one of these every three months
Corporation Tax Return (This is the Company tax return and is sent with the Annual Accounts to the Inland Revenue – prepared once a year by your accountant)
CUK Guide to Contracting
For more information on Dividends, what expenses you can put through your company, and some general guidance on your accounts please refer to our Limited Company Guide section of our free pdf download CUK Guide to Contracting (PDF)
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Choosing an Accountant
CUK carries many advertisements for accountants that specialise in catering for IT contractors. Our advice would be to approach as many as you can to establish what each offers, how they can save you money and the service they provide as a comparison. You could also search our forums where there are many posts containing testominials and recommendations for good accountants.
