Welcome to the Cobol Company Formation blog. This site designed to be a business hub were members and visitors share knowledge and experience. We hope you enjoy your visit and contribute.
Incorporate Online
Once you decide to incorporate your own business, it is imperative you put a lot of thought into the process.
There are a number of important task to carry out before you register the company. Sidestepping any of these tasks could cause legal or financial difficulties down the line.
I would also caution the reading of this guide is not exhaustive and it would be prudent to follow up with some research. In the US every state is a mini government and has its own company incorporation process. This guide is therefore a general outline and does not provide state specific information or seek to give a comprehensive overview.
Step 1 company name:
The name of your entity is the first thing you need decide. There are generally no restrictions as long as there no business with the same or similar company name on the state register. It important to avoid names which have a registered trade mark. Naming your company Apple Computers or the Ford Motor Company could be a costly undertaking. It is also necessary to review the state guidelines on company names. One you have found an acceptable name which is available for incorporation it is a good idea to contact state official or your incorporation agent to reserve the name. This will give you the opportunity to get organised prior to the registration of the company.
Step 2 entity type:
Once your company name is secure, the next step is to define the type of corporation you will setup. The corporation type will determine how many shareholders and stockholders the company will have. You may have limitless number of shareholders if you wish, and this will be advisable if you are planning to sell shares in your company. There are also corporations which will allow you to incorporate particular group of people, such as a doctors forming a medical practice.
Step 3. Articles of Incorporation:
In the majority of cases this is also processed by the company you incorporate online with. There are numerous well know and well respected company formation agents such as Bizfilings, Legal Zoom and Be Incorporated. I use the later. It is usually a very easy step by step process in which you will have to complete and online form with the information the state needs to form the company. This will typically include company, director name and address, the number of shareholders and the value of each share. Once these documents are filed with the state your business has become incorporated.
Step 4. Finally:
Now you have become incorporated there is still one last step to complete. The creation of corporation bylaws, a document which regulates the rules governing the owners and people in executive control of the company. The bylaws will also determine how the voting of the company will be conducted and the voting rights of the stakeholders. It is not mandatory to file the bylaw documents state but the owners have a legal duty to create the documents as a part of the incorporation process. In most circumstances the online incorporator will provide tried and tested bylaw documents as a part of the service.
In conclusion the US economy is the largest in the market in the world. The company formation section is very competitive there. It is therefore very cheap and easy to be incorporated.
For United Kingdom company formation there is a comprehensive article of the legal issues surrounding company registration at Squidoo.
Financial planning and offshore companies
The common features of offshore companies are lower or absolutely no tax afforded by jurisdictions with tougher privacy laws than their onshore equivalent.
In this segment I will look at the key issues concerning offshore company formation. Paradoxically the word offshore has become connected with onshore tax havens and economic centres like as Monaco, Dubai, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Panama.
Tax minimization, although a key factor, ought not to be the main concern as there are lawful, administrative and financial motives for structuring offshore. One would advocate potential clients of these services conduct in depth analysis and acquire impartial tax advice in the country where they are tax domicile.
For instance, Great Britain has the largest number of double taxation treaties with countries around the world and the most competitive company tax rates in the world and a few states in the US, such as Nevada and Delaware provide some of the world’s biggest and most well-known offshore business centres.
As expected offshore incorporation and banking services are provided under the strictest of confidence. Extensive guidance is given to allow would be clients to establish their business offshore.
As with United Kingdom companies, a limited company is a different legal being or entity from its directors and shareholders and so any legal liability or financial loss suffered by the limited company is claimable from the company, its assets and share funds and not the resources of the shareholders or proprietors. When correctly formed offshore companies offer a high level of business confidentiality as well as personal privacy.
In some offshore jurisdictions director and shareholder information are on a public register. In these counties privacy is maintained with the use of nominee directors and nominee shareholders. The organisations involved in the set-up of the offshore corporate entities are very knowledgeable and experienced and the structure is solid and can withstand attack from tax authorities or claimants of law suits. It is usually impossible to pierce the corporate shield and obtain information about the owners and directors.
In tax haven jurisdictions the gains of an offshore company are normally going to be tax free. Business owners resident in higher tax jurisdictions may use an absolutely no tax offshore company and build up profit gains offshore. Profits may be permitted to roll-up so tax benefits may be accumulated on investment income as well as the initial profits. Collective earnings can therefore be significant.
Funds repatriated to the high tax nations of domicile by the firms directors and beneficial owners are taxable at the rates of the shareholder or director’s home country.
Anti-avoidance laws in the place of residence must also be considered in the meticulous planning and incorporating the offshore company. All potential clients of such services should to talk to with the professional company formation agent or tax lawyer in their place of residence on such issues.
In conclusion offshore company registration may be used as an ideal tool for trading, asset protection and tax mitigation.
Company Formation: a profile
Company Formation Online Ltd provides a convenient “one stop shop” approach to business start-up services. The process begins with the online registration of a new company and continues through a highly affective and automated process to offer customers keenly prices products such as telephone numbers, virtual registered office, London mailing address service, tax books, domain registration, web-hosting, website design, branding and low cost stationary. The user may select any or the entire optional services offered or simply deselect all and skip straight through to the payment page.
The methodology is highly affective and is a positive user experience. The company makes it easier to have all services under one roof rather than having multiple suppliers, multiple accounts and multiple passwords. The down site is, of course, you are putting all eggs in one basket but I believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
For a new and small business the company’s approach removes the administrative burden of the mundane tasks and allows the entrepreneur to concentrate on establishing a successful company.
The actual process of incorporating a new company takes online takes 3-5 minutes depending on the user’s keyboard skills but it’s also possible to order by phone. Once the information is provided via the online user interface, the data is transmitted to Companies House, the UK executive governments agency responsible for companies. who examine and validate the data and incorporate the company. I registered a company online with the above mentioned provider and had a pdf of the certificate of incorporation within two and half hours.
Global popularity of UK companies
UK Limited companies are very popular all around the world, here are some of the reasons why:
1. A UK limited company is trustworthy and reputable around the worldwide.
2. Anybody can incorporate a limited company in the UK. There are no citizen or residency requirements. It is necessary to travel in order to register a company in the UK and the company formation process is very fast and efficient.
3. The UK has the most fiercely competitive company formation industry. This fact translates to cheap and efficient incorporation service.
4. Companies are taxed at 21% on profits. The UK has double taxation agreement with many counties and citizens of those countries can mitigate their business tax and take advantage of a relatively low corporation tax.
In this segment we profile a company formation agent based in London.
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