A limited company consider as having its own legal status, which means it is liable for any liabilities it incurs and is the legal owner of all its assets.

Who owns a limited company?

Limited companies owned by one or more individuals (human or corporate) known as ‘members’. The members of a company ‘limited by shares’ call shareholders.

Who runs the day-to-day affairs of a company?

A company’s day-to-day management delegated to its directors by its shareholders. The shareholders appoint the directors, who can then appoint additional directors.

Can directors use the business money?

The directors of a company cannot use company assets – including the money in the bank – as if they belonged to the director personally in real terms. Any money extracted from the business must pay out via salary or dividend as authorized channels.

Are there any tax ramifications for directors’ withdrawals?

Any amounts withdrawn otherwise should record and disclosed in annual accounts, as well as reported to HMRC under Loans to Directors. If a director takes a loan from their company, the company will not have to pay any additional tax on it if the loan is paid back within 9 months of the end of the company’s tax year, for any amounts withdrawn for over 9 months, an additional 32.5% Corporation Tax is levied on the outstanding loan amount at the end of the financial year.

What obligations and duties should a director bear in mind?

The directors are accountable for keeping accurate and fair records for the company. Tue and fair both mean and include:

•comply with any relevant legislation or regulatory requirements.

•provide an unbiased (fair and reasonable) presentation.

•faithfully represent the underlying commercial activity (the concept of ‘substance over legal form’).

A Recent court case decision:

These obligations were not met, as illustrated by a recent instance in which a director was barred from being a director for 11 years after wrongly accounting for about £2.3 million over a six-year period. The director misappropriated over £2.3m from company funds, resulting in HMRC losing nearly £1m in tax.

Moreover, the company ceased trading in February 2021 and went into liquidation shortly after. Following its liquidation, the Insolvency Service launched an inquiry, which revealed massive tax evasion. Investigators discovered that the business owed £940K in unpaid tax as a result of the director’s activities at the time of insolvency.

Next Step:

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