The United Kingdom (UK) is formally out of the European Union (EU) and the transition period, in which various legal issues were established between the two entities, ended as well. Starting with 2021, natural persons and companies are affected by new legal procedures and for businesses, this new era has important consequences on tax matters and trading across borders.
Considering these aspects, numerous investors are seeking alternatives that will have less of an impact on their businesses and one of them is to relocate their UK based companies to other EU countries. If you want to relocate your UK company to Spain after Brexit, you can rely on our team of consultants, who can advise on the entire process.
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What is the process of relocating your UK company to Spain after Brexit?
If you want to relocate your UK company to Spain after Brexit, the first aspect that you should do is close down the company currently operating in the UK. The process involves closing the premises where the company develops its activity, making a formal request to close the business down, which will be followed by the de-registration with the local institutions (Commercial Registry, tax authorities) and other formal requirements.
After this, you can start the company in Spain, but the main difference prior to Brexit is that the investors will need to apply for business visas and await a formal document issuance. In this case, a residence permit will also be needed and in the case the investor wants to relocate staff that worked in his or her company in the UK, the staff will also need specific work visas when arriving in Spain. Our consultants can offer information on the available visas.
Most commonly, foreign investors will register here as either a limited liability company or a public limited company, depending on the business model they want to follow, the number of required employees, and the size of their activities. A large part of the steps related to company registration in Spain can be completed online, some of them referring to the following:
- foreign businessmen who want to open a company in Spain have to obtain a tax ID code for foreign investors;
- the investor can then access the Entrepreneur Service Point, which handles parts of the registration process, such as completing specific incorporation applications, reserving a company name or obtaining a deed of incorporation;
- another compulsory step when opening a corporate entity, regardless of its type, is to open a corporate bank account with a local commercial bank;
- appoint a meeting with a notary public for the purpose of drafting and signing various documents;
- foreign businessmen must also complete a declaration of foreign investment, which is submitted to the Foreign Investment Registry.
Another step is to announce the Ministry of Labor on the opening of the company, 30 days prior to starting the business activities, as specified by Invest in Spain, an entity operating under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism’s Secretary of State for Commerce. Additional procedures must be completed throughout the steps mentioned above and our team of consultants in company registration in Spain can advise on such matters.
We suggest you discover the services of our accountants in Spain if you have a business in this country. It is important to align yourself with applicable legislation and to understand what payroll and bookkeeping services involve or when audits are needed. We can offer you the necessary assistance for registration for tax payment, as well as for debt monitoring. You can also count on us for the preparation of annual financial statements, so contact us either by phone or online.
Why relocate your UK company to Spain after Brexit?
Deciding on a new place of doing business which is in another jurisdiction can be a challenging task for investors, as each jurisdiction can provide specific advantages. Deciding among the EU countries can also be a difficult matter, as all EU countries have unified legislation in most cases and follow the EU model for doing business. Below, we have listed some of the main reasons for investing in Spain as an investor from the UK:
- Spain has a gross domestic product of $1.3 trillion and it is the home of 46 million residents;
- it is currently the 4th largest economy of the EU and the 13th at a global level;
- the country is one of the leading markets for the startup industry – in 2018, Spain had 4115 startup businesses;
- UK businessmen interested in investing in the IT sector can easily choose Valencia for their business activities, as the city, with more than 1 million inhabitants, is the place of more than 6000 startup businesses (the highest ratio per capita in the country);
- it represents a major source of development of tourism-related companies, as it accounts for approximately 70 million visitors each year.
If you want to know more on the process of relocating a UK company to Spain after Brexit, please address our consultants. Our team can help you in opening a company in Spain and will advise on the types of visas you can apply for when relocating here for investment purposes.