Registering a limited company in the UK costs £100 online, takes about 15–30 minutes to file, and Companies House usually completes it within 24 hours. Since 18 November 2025 there is one new step you cannot skip: every director must verify their identity first and get a Companies House personal code. This guide walks through the whole process — the decisions to make before you file, the seven steps in order, the fees, and everything you need to do in the first year after incorporation. All fees and deadlines were checked against GOV.UK and Companies House on 14 November 2026.
Limited company or sole trader?
A limited company is a separate legal person from you. It owns its own debts, signs its own contracts and pays its own tax. You, as a director and shareholder, are generally liable only up to what you have invested. A sole trader is simpler — you and the business are the same person, and your personal assets are on the line if the business owes money.
Neither structure is right for everyone. This table covers the decision most new founders actually face:
| Sole trader | Limited company (Ltd) | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal status | You are the business | Separate legal person |
| Your liability | Unlimited — personal assets at risk | Limited to your investment |
| Tax | Income Tax on profits via Self Assessment | Corporation Tax on profits; you take salary and/or dividends |
| Setup cost | Free (register with HMRC only) | £100 online with Companies House |
| Public record | Almost nothing is public | Directors, accounts and filings are on the public register |
| Admin | Minimal | Annual accounts, confirmation statement, statutory records |
As a rule of thumb, incorporation starts to make sense when your profits are growing, you want the liability protection, clients ask for a company, or you plan to bring in partners or investors. Many freelancers start as sole traders and incorporate later, once income grows — see how getting paid as a freelancer works in practice before you decide. If you are still unsure, an accountant can run the numbers for your exact income; the tax answer depends on how much profit you keep in the company versus take out.
What you need before you start
Gather these seven things before you open the Companies House service. The filing itself is quick; it is the preparation that takes the time.
1. A company name. It must be unique on the Companies House register and must usually end in “Limited” or “Ltd”. Check availability with the Companies House name checker before you get attached to a name. Avoid names that are too similar to an existing company, contain sensitive words (such as “Royal” or “Bank” without permission), or imply a regulated activity you do not do.
2. A registered office address. This must be a physical address in the UK, in the same jurisdiction you register in — England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. It is where official mail goes, and it appears on the public register. Your home address works, but many founders use their accountant’s address or a registered-office service to keep their home address off the public record. A PO Box alone is not accepted.
3. At least one director. A director must be at least 16 years old and not disqualified from being a director. A company can have one director, who can also be the only shareholder. Since 18 November 2025, every director must verify their identity before they can be appointed — see Step 1 below.
4. At least one shareholder. The shareholder owns the company. In a one-person company, you are both the director and the shareholder. A common setup is 100 ordinary shares at £1 each, giving you 100% ownership and a clean, simple share structure.
5. A SIC code. A Standard Industrial Classification code describes what the company does — for example, 62020 for IT consultancy. Pick the code that best matches your main activity from Companies House’s condensed list; a wrong or vague code can get the filing rejected.
6. People with significant control (PSCs). Anyone who holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, can appoint or remove a majority of directors, or otherwise exercises significant influence over the company must be recorded as a PSC. In a one-person company, that is you.
7. Your identity verification. Every director needs a Companies House personal code before the application can be submitted. Sort this out first — it is the step that catches new founders out.
How to register a limited company in the UK: the 7 steps
Step 1: Verify your identity with Companies House
Since 18 November 2025, identity verification is a legal requirement under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, not an optional extra. Verify yourself free of charge through GOV.UK One Login, using the ID-check app with a biometric passport from any country or a UK photo driving licence, or by answering a set of online questions. Companies House then issues you a personal code — an 11-character code that proves your identity is verified.
Keep the code safe. You will enter it in the registration application, and you will need it again for future filings such as the confirmation statement. You normally only verify once. If an accountant or formation agent files for you, they can verify your identity as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) instead, though they may charge for it. Existing directors — those appointed before 18 November 2025 — must verify by the time their company files its next confirmation statement, and the transition period ends on 17 November 2026.
Step 2: Choose and check your company name
Search the Companies House register for your proposed name. If an identical or near-identical name exists, pick another one — Companies House will reject the application. The name must end in “Limited” or “Ltd” (or the Welsh equivalents if you register in Wales). Remember that the registered name does not have to be your trading name: you can trade under a different brand name, but invoices and contracts should show the registered name somewhere, and you cannot use a trading name that misleads people about what the company is.
Step 3: Set your registered office address
Decide where official correspondence goes. It must be a real UK address where documents can be delivered and acknowledged. If you work from home and would rather not publish your home address, a registered-office service or your accountant’s address is the usual answer. Directors can also give a separate service address for their own correspondence, so their home address stays off the public register.
Step 4: Appoint directors and shareholders, and set the share structure
Name at least one director and at least one shareholder, and decide how many shares each shareholder holds and at what value. For a one-person company, 100 ordinary shares at £1 each is the standard, simple choice. If there are two or more founders, agree the split now — 50/50 splits look fair on day one and cause deadlocks later, so think carefully about who holds the deciding share. Record anyone holding more than 25% as a PSC.
Step 5: Choose your SIC code
Pick the Standard Industrial Classification code that best describes your main activity. You can list up to four codes, but the first should be the activity that brings in most of the income. Common examples include 62020 for IT consultancy, 82990 for other business support services, and 47910 for retail via the internet. Use the condensed list on GOV.UK rather than guessing — an invalid code is a common reason for a rejected filing.
Step 6: Prepare your memorandum and articles of association
The memorandum is a short statement that the subscribers wish to form a company and agree to become members. The articles of association are the company’s internal rulebook — how decisions are made, how shares are transferred, how directors are appointed. Most small companies adopt the government’s model articles unchanged, and the online service offers them as the default. If you have more than one shareholder, consider taking advice on bespoke articles that cover what happens if a founder leaves or a shareholder dies; model articles do not cover those situations well.
Step 7: File online with Companies House and pay £100
File through the Companies House online service on GOV.UK and pay £100 by debit or credit card. You will create a Government Gateway user ID for the company during the process — your personal one cannot be used. The online service usually sets the company up for Corporation Tax at the same time. Companies House usually registers the company within 24 hours and emails you a certificate of incorporation showing the company number and date of formation. Until that certificate is issued, the company does not legally exist — so wait for it before opening a bank account, signing contracts or printing anything in the company’s name.
The process is different from registering a private limited company in Pakistan, where SECP is the registrar and the fee schedule is entirely separate — but the logic is the same: the registrar checks the name, the people and the documents, then issues the certificate that brings the company into existence.
What it costs to register a limited company
There are three filing routes, and they differ in price and speed. All figures are the Companies House fees in force from 1 February 2026, when the online fee doubled from £50 to £100.
| Filing route | Fee | Typical speed |
|---|---|---|
| Online (GOV.UK service) | £100 | Usually within 24 hours |
| By post (form IN01) | £124 | 8 to 10 days |
| Same-day (approved software only) | £156 | Same working day, if filed by 3pm |
Formation agents and accountants charge their own service fee on top of the £100, and some bundle in a registered-office address or first-year accounts. There is no way to avoid the Companies House fee itself — every route pays it. The only other compulsory Companies House cost in year one is the confirmation statement: £50 online (£110 on paper), due after the first anniversary. So the statutory minimum for forming a company and filing its first confirmation statement is £150.
For a sense of how registration costs compare elsewhere, our breakdown of the cost of registering a business in Pakistan puts the UK’s £100 fee in context — different registrar, different fee schedule, same need to budget for the filings that follow incorporation.
What to do after Companies House says yes
Incorporation is the start, not the finish. These five jobs follow immediately, and two of them have hard deadlines.
1. Register for Corporation Tax. The online registration usually sets this up at the same time, but you must tell HMRC within 3 months of the company starting to do business — buying, selling, advertising, renting premises or employing someone all count as starting. HMRC posts a 10-digit Corporation Tax Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) to the registered office. Corporation Tax rates for 2026/27 are 19% on profits up to £50,000 (the small profits rate) and 25% on profits over £250,000 (the main rate), with marginal relief in between.
2. Open a business bank account. The company’s money must stay separate from yours — mixing them is the fastest way to lose the protection a limited company gives you. Most banks ask for the certificate of incorporation, the memorandum and articles, and ID and proof of address for each director. If you are a freelancer incorporating, compare the best bank accounts for freelancers in the UK first — several are free and built for one-person companies. The documents a UK bank asks for are similar in spirit to opening a business bank account in Pakistan: ID, proof of address and company documents, verified before the account is activated.
3. Set up PAYE if you will pay salaries. Register as an employer with HMRC before the first payday if the company pays anyone, including your own director’s salary. You do not need PAYE if the only money you take out is dividends, but most directors take a small salary up to the tax-free threshold plus dividends.
4. Watch the VAT threshold. You must register for VAT once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period — a threshold that has applied since 1 April 2024 — and you have 30 days to register once you cross it. You can also register voluntarily below the threshold, which can make sense if your customers are VAT-registered businesses and you want to reclaim VAT on costs. The standard VAT rate is 20%.
5. Keep proper records from day one. Keep accounting records for at least six years. That means invoices, receipts, bank statements and payroll records, filed as you go rather than reconstructed at year end. HMRC closed its free online filing service for company accounts and tax returns on 31 March 2026, so company accounts and the Company Tax Return now need commercial software or an accountant.
Your first-year deadlines
Miss a Companies House deadline and the penalty is automatic — no warning letter, no phone call. Put these five dates in your calendar on the day you incorporate.
| Filing | Goes to | Deadline | Fee / penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporation Tax registration | HMRC | Within 3 months of starting to trade | Penalties for late registration |
| First accounts | Companies House | 21 months after incorporation | Late filing penalty £150–£1,500 |
| Annual accounts (after year one) | Companies House | 9 months after the financial year end | Late filing penalty £150–£1,500 |
| Confirmation statement | Companies House | At least every 12 months, within 14 days of the review period ending | £50 online / £110 paper |
| Company Tax Return (CT600) | HMRC | 12 months after the accounting period ends | Tax itself due 9 months and 1 day after the period ends |
Late accounts penalties for a private company run on a fixed scale: £150 if up to one month late, £375 for one to three months, £750 for three to six months, and £1,500 if more than six months late — doubled if accounts are late in two successive years. The confirmation statement is a separate filing from the accounts: it confirms the company’s details are up to date, and since 18 November 2025 every director’s personal code must be included in it.
6 mistakes that delay or cost new companies
1. Filing before verifying identity. Since 18 November 2025 the application needs each director’s personal code. Verify first, file second — the filing cannot be submitted without it.
2. Choosing a name that is too close to another company. Companies House rejects names that are identical or confusingly similar to an existing company. Check the register before you print business cards.
3. Using your home address as the registered office without thinking. It goes on the public register, where anyone can find it. A registered-office service costs little and keeps it private.
4. Forgetting the 3-month Corporation Tax deadline. The clock runs from when the company starts doing business, not from the incorporation date. Buying stock or advertising counts as starting.
5. Mixing personal and company money. Paying personal expenses from the company account — or the reverse — creates a director’s loan account that has to be untangled at year end, and can trigger extra tax.
6. Ignoring the confirmation statement. It is a small filing with a £50 fee, but failing to file it can end with the company being struck off the register. Diary it for the first anniversary of incorporation.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to register a limited company in the UK?
Online, usually within 24 hours — the application itself takes 15–30 minutes if you have all the details ready. By post on form IN01 it takes 8 to 10 days. A same-day service is available for £156 through approved software, if you file by 3pm on a weekday.
How much does it cost to register a limited company in the UK in 2026?
£100 online, £124 by post, or £156 for same-day filing through software. Those are the Companies House fees in force from 1 February 2026. Add £50 a year for the confirmation statement, and any accountant or formation-agent fees if you use one.
Do I need an accountant to register a limited company?
No. You can register yourself online in under half an hour if the details are ready. An accountant is worth it for the tax decisions that follow — salary versus dividends, VAT registration, and the first set of accounts — but not for the filing itself.
Can I register a limited company if I am not a UK resident?
Yes. There is no requirement to live in the UK to be a director or shareholder, but the company needs a UK registered office address, and every director still has to verify their identity with Companies House. Non-residents should also check whether they need a UK visa to work here — incorporating a company does not grant one.
Do I have to verify my identity to be a director?
Yes. Since 18 November 2025, identity verification is mandatory for new directors and people with significant control. Verify free through GOV.UK One Login and you receive a Companies House personal code, which goes into the registration application. Existing directors must verify by their company’s next confirmation statement.
What is the difference between a confirmation statement and annual accounts?
The confirmation statement confirms the company’s details — directors, shareholders, registered office, SIC code — are up to date. It contains no financial information and costs £50 a year. Annual accounts are the financial statements: profit, balance sheet and notes, due 9 months after the year end (21 months for the first set). Both are compulsory, and they go to Companies House, not HMRC.
Featured image: Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels (free to use).
