Running a limited company: your responsibilities

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1. Directors바카라 사이트™ responsibilities

As a director of a limited company, you must:

You can hire other people to manage some of these things day-to-day (for example, an accountant) but you바카라 사이트™re still legally responsible for your company바카라 사이트™s records, accounts and performance.

You may be fined, prosecuted or disqualified from being a company director if you do not meet your responsibilities.

Contact your professional adviser or to find out more.

2. Taking money out of a limited company

How you take money out of the company depends on what it바카라 사이트™s for and how much you take out.

Salary, expenses and benefits

If you want the company to pay you or anyone else a salary, expenses or benefits, you must register the company as an employer.

The company must take Income Tax and National Insurance contributions from your salary payments and pay these to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), along with employers바카라 사이트™ National Insurance contributions.

If you or one of your employees make personal use of something that belongs to the business, you must report it as a benefit and pay any tax due.

Dividends

A dividend is a payment a company can make to shareholders if it has made a profit.

You cannot count dividends as business costs when you work out your Corporation Tax.

Your company must not pay out more in dividends than its available profits from current and previous financial years.

You must usually pay dividends to all shareholders.

To pay a dividend, you must:

  • hold a directors바카라 사이트™ meeting to 바카라 사이트˜declare바카라 사이트™ the dividend
  • keep minutes of the meeting, even if you바카라 사이트™re the only director

Dividend paperwork

For each dividend payment the company makes, you must write up a dividend voucher showing the:

  • date
  • company name
  • names of the shareholders being paid a dividend
  • amount of the dividend

You must give a copy of the voucher to recipients of the dividend and keep a copy for your company바카라 사이트™s records.

Tax on dividends

Your company does not need to pay tax on dividend payments. But shareholders may have to pay Income Tax if they바카라 사이트™re over £500.

Directors바카라 사이트™ loans

If you take more money out of a company than you바카라 사이트™ve put in - and it바카라 사이트™s not salary or dividend - it바카라 사이트™s called a 바카라 사이트˜directors바카라 사이트™ loan바카라 사이트™.

If your company makes directors바카라 사이트™ loans, you must keep records of them. There are also some detailed tax rules about how directors바카라 사이트™ loans are handled.

3. Company changes you must report

You must report certain changes to Companies House.

Changing your company바카라 사이트™s registered office address

You must tell Companies House if you want to change your company바카라 사이트™s registered office address. If the change is approved, they will tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Your company바카라 사이트™s new registered office address must be in the same part of the UK that the company was registered (incorporated).

For example, if your company was registered in England and Wales, the new registered office address must be in England or Wales.

Your address will not officially change until Companies House has registered it.

Changing your company바카라 사이트™s registered email address

There바카라 사이트™s a different process if you need to .

Other changes you must report

You must tell HMRC if:

You must tell Companies House within 14 days if you make changes to:

You must tell Companies House within a month if you issue more shares in your company.

How to report changes to Companies House

You can:

You must separately.

Changes that shareholders must approve

You may need to get shareholders to vote on the decision if you want to:

  • change the company name
  • remove a director
  • change the company바카라 사이트™s articles of association

This is called 바카라 사이트˜passing a resolution바카라 사이트™. Most resolutions will need a majority to agree (called an 바카라 사이트˜ordinary resolution바카라 사이트™). Some might require a 75% majority (called a 바카라 사이트˜special resolution바카라 사이트™).

Companies House has more details about the types of to them.

Your new company name will not take effect until it바카라 사이트™s registered by Companies House - they바카라 사이트™ll tell you when this happens.

Shareholder voting

When you바카라 사이트™re working out whether you have a majority, count the number of shares that give the owner the right to vote, rather than the number of shareholders.

You do not necessarily need to have a meeting of shareholders to pass a resolution. If the right amount of shareholders have told you they agree, you can confirm the resolution in writing. But you must write to all shareholders letting them know about the decision.

4. Company and accounting records

You must use a business bank account for your Limited Company. You must also keep:

  • records about the company itself
  • financial and accounting records

You can hire a professional (for example, an accountant) to help with your tax.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) may check your records with a compliance check to make sure you바카라 사이트™re paying the right amount of tax.

Records about the company

You must keep details of:

  • directors, shareholders and company secretaries
  • the results of any shareholder votes and resolutions
  • promises for the company to repay loans at a specific date in the future (바카라 사이트˜debentures바카라 사이트™) and who they must be paid back to
  • promises the company makes for payments if something goes wrong and it바카라 사이트™s the company바카라 사이트™s fault (바카라 사이트˜indemnities바카라 사이트™)
  • transactions when someone buys shares in the company
  • loans or mortgages secured against the company바카라 사이트™s assets

You must tell Companies House if you keep the records somewhere other than the company바카라 사이트™s registered office address.

Register of 바카라 사이트˜people with significant control바카라 사이트™

You must also keep a register of 바카라 사이트˜people with significant control바카라 사이트™ (PSC). Your PSC register must include details of anyone who:

  • has more than 25% shares or voting rights in your company
  • can appoint or remove a majority of directors
  • can influence or control your company or trust

You still need to keep a record if there are no people with significant control.

Read more guidance on keeping a PSC register if your company바카라 사이트™s ownership and control is not simple.

Accounting records

You must keep accounting records that include:

  • all money received and spent by the company, including grants and payments from coronavirus (COVID-19) support schemes
  • details of assets owned by the company
  • debts the company owes or is owed
  • stock the company owns at the end of the financial year
  • the stocktakings you used to work out the stock figure
  • all goods bought and sold
  • who you bought and sold them to and from (unless you run a retail business)

You must also keep any other financial records, information and calculations you need to prepare and file your annual accounts and Company Tax Return. This includes records of:

  • all money spent by the company, for example receipts, petty cash books, orders and delivery notes
  • all money received by the company, for example invoices, contracts, sales books and till rolls
  • any other relevant documents, for example bank statements and correspondence

You can be fined £3,000 by HMRC or disqualified as a company director if you do not keep accounting records.

How long to keep records

You must keep records for 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, or longer if:

  • they show a transaction that covers more than one of the company바카라 사이트™s accounting periods
  • the company has bought something that it expects to last more than 6 years, like equipment or machinery
  • you sent your Company Tax Return late
  • HMRC has started a compliance check into your Company Tax Return

If your records are lost, stolen or destroyed

If you cannot replace your records after they were lost, stolen or destroyed you must:

5. Confirmation statement

You need to check that the information Companies House has about your company is correct every year. This is called a confirmation statement.

Check your company바카라 사이트™s details

You need to check the following:

.

There바카라 사이트™s a different process if you need to .

Send your confirmation statement

Send your confirmation statement online or by post. It costs £34 to file your confirmation statement online, and £62 by post.

Providing an email address

You must provide an email address in your confirmation statement if you have not already provided one.

Companies House will use this email address to contact you about your company.

You must read any emails that your company receives.

Your email address will not be published on the public register.

If you need to report changes

You can only use your confirmation statement to report changes to your:

  • SIC code
  • statement of capital
  • trading status of shares
  • exemption from keeping a register of 바카라 사이트˜people with significant control바카라 사이트™
  • shareholder information

You must tell Companies House about other changes to your limited company.

When it바카라 사이트™s due

Your confirmation statement is due usually a year after either:

  • the date your company incorporated
  • the date you filed your last confirmation statement

You can file your confirmation statement up to 14 days after the due date.

Sign up to get an email reminder when your confirmation statement is due.

You can be fined up to £5,000 and your company may be struck off if you do not send your confirmation statement.

6. Signs, stationery and promotional material

Signs

You must display a sign showing your company name at your registered company address and wherever your business operates. If you바카라 사이트™re running your business from home, you do not need to display a sign there.

Example

If you바카라 사이트™re running 3 shops and an office that바카라 사이트™s not at your home, you must display a sign at each of them.

The sign must be easy to read and to see at any time, not just when you바카라 사이트™re open.

Stationery and promotional material

You must include your company바카라 사이트™s name on all company documents, publicity and letters.

On business letters, order forms and websites, you must show:

  • the company바카라 사이트™s registered number
  • its registered office address
  • where the company is registered (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland)
  • the fact that it바카라 사이트™s a limited company (usually by spelling out the company바카라 사이트™s full name including 바카라 사이트˜Limited바카라 사이트™ or 바카라 사이트˜Ltd바카라 사이트™)

If you want to include directors바카라 사이트™ names, you must list all of them.

If you want to show your company바카라 사이트™s share capital (how much the shares were worth when you issued them), you must say how much is 바카라 사이트˜paid up바카라 사이트™ (owned by shareholders).

There are different rules for what you need to include on invoices.