Track 45

Track 45.

Thank you, Dr Lethbridge.

The last form of business I’d like to talk about is the limited liability company.

The owners of a limited liability company are called ‘members’ or ‘shareholders’ as they own shares in the company.

A ‘share’ is a divided-up unit or part of the company.

All businesses run the risk of failing or going bankrupt.

If a business goes bankrupt, it has to close because it owes money and is not able to pay the money back.

As I mentioned before, setting up a limited liability company, like an LLP, means that if the company fails or goes bankrupt, the business owners lose only what they have put into the business and not their own personal goods and property.

This is the idea of liability, how much a business owes in debt if it can no longer operate and has to close.

For example, if a sole trader goes bankrupt, he or she may need to sell his or her own house and possessions in order to pay any debts, because the business is not separate from the owner.

With LLPs and limited liability companies, the owners and the businesses are separate, so property and goods owned by the business can be sold to pay debts, but not property and goods personally owned by the members or company shareholders.

Just as with LLPs, limited liability companies (or ‘limited companies’ for short) must be legally registered with Companies House.

This means they must have a registered address, where all the company documents and records must be kept.

As with LLPs, accounts and annual returns must be submitted every year so that anyone can have a look at the company’s finances before doing business with it.

The level of administration is higher than with other business structures and you need to have a managing director and at least one shareholder.

In terms of paying tax, the company has to pay corporation tax on its profits, which is far less than income tax on large amounts, especially over around £50,000.

However, you also have to pay income tax on any money you take as a salary from your company.

As with the other business structures, the company tax assessment must be submitted to the tax office, but for corporation tax rather than income tax.

The shareholders also have to submit their own personal tax assessments separately.

As we’ve already mentioned, the company owners must also submit accounts to Companies House.

This can all be quite complicated, so it’s a good idea to get professional help and advice from an accountant.

It’s important to remember that running a limited company is more complex than being a sole trader, so it’s important to do careful research and consider your situation before deciding which type of business to run.

In any case, you could start as a sole trader and, if business is doing well, turn your business into a limited company at a later date.