What is central management and control for a UK company?

The test asks where real strategic control sits, not day-to-day management. Case law such as De Beers Consolidated Mines looks past the country of incorporation to where the board actually meets, deliberates and makes decisions that matter, rather than where minutes say they happened.

A rubber-stamp board that approves decisions already made informally elsewhere does not fix the place of central management and control there; substance in decision-making is what counts, not the location on paper.

If a UK-incorporated company is genuinely directed from another country, that country may also treat it as resident under its own domestic rules, creating dual residence and a need to resolve it under a tax treaty tie-breaker, or by apportionment where no treaty applies.

Keeping real board discussion, not just formal sign-off, happening in the UK where possible, and documenting it, is the practical way most non-resident owners avoid an unplanned second residence.

Our fixed monthly packages for a UK limited company start at £89 plus VAT and run to £169 and £289 plus VAT as bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and reporting are added. One-off filings are sold at fixed prices, and the Companies House fees we pay for you are charged at cost with no VAT added. Overseas owners are quoted on exactly the same published prices as UK-resident clients.

Rates, thresholds and deadlines here reflect the 2026/27 UK position and current Companies House and HMRC guidance. Check GOV.UK, or ask us, before relying on them for your own company.