Prices for a shelf Ltd
A private limited company, English or Irish, incorporated and paid up and waiting on the shelf — with an EU branch if your plans need one, and without if they do not.
This page sets out what a shelf Ltd includes, how it is handed over and how the price is put together. Two decisions shape that price: which register the company sits on, and whether it is to be visible on the continent as well.
- England or Ireland, your choice
- No minimum capital required by law
- Transferred in writing, no notary
- EU branch available as an option
The company at a glance
Whichever of the two registers it comes from, a company we hold on the shelf has these characteristics.
- Incorporated and currentRegistered at Companies House or at the Companies Registration Office in Dublin, with every filing due so far made on time. You receive the register extract before you decide anything.
- Capital as you like itNeither jurisdiction prescribes a minimum. Our clients usually settle on EUR 1,000 for an Irish company, but the figure is yours to choose, and it can be raised later.
- Officers already appointedA director is in office, and for an Irish company a company secretary as well — the law there requires one where the company has only a single director.
- Nothing behind itThe company has never traded. Our transfer agreement gives you that as a warranty, and the file we hand over is complete: certificate of incorporation, constitution, register extract, share register.
You do not have to be resident in the United Kingdom or in Ireland to own or to direct one of these companies. What Ireland does require is that at least one director be resident in the European Economic Area, or that security be lodged in place of that — see the note on the Section 137 bond further down.
England or Ireland
The two forms are close cousins: same language, similar constitution, similar running costs. The difference that matters is the border.
| Ltd registered in England and Wales | Irish Ltd | |
|---|---|---|
| Register | Companies House | Companies Registration Office, Dublin |
| Standing in the EU | A company from a third country since the United Kingdom left | A company of a member state; freedom of establishment applies without qualification |
| Suits | Business whose centre of gravity is British | Business that has to be recognised across the European Union without argument |
| Directors | No residence condition | One director resident in the EEA, or a bond instead |
| Company secretary | Optional for a private company | Required, and a second person where there is only one director |
| Name reservation | Not possible — first to file takes the name | Possible for a limited period |
We are not going to tell you that one of them is simply better. If your customers, your staff and your bank are in Britain, the English company is the straightforward answer and the Irish one only adds a border to cross. If you intend to be seen as an EU business — because of a tender, a marketplace, a licence or a distribution agreement — the Irish company spares you an argument that the English one will keep provoking.
What the price covers
The list below is what every shelf Ltd brings with it. Anything beyond it is priced separately and named in your quotation.
- the limited company itself, on the English or the Irish register
- share capital subscribed and paid, in the amount you choose
- certificate of incorporation and constitution, in the original
- an up-to-date extract from the register
- share register and share certificates, reissued in your name
- director in office and, for an Irish company, a company secretary
- a registered office address until you name your own
- no trading of any kind, warranted to you in writing
- the transfer itself: instrument of transfer, board resolutions, filings with the register
From enquiry to handover
Choose the company
We work out with you which register fits the plan, what the company should be called and how much capital it should carry, then hold a suitable one in your name.
Quotation and identity check
A written quotation reaches you with both figures on it and an estimate of the fees that are charged on. The identity check runs alongside it — passport or identity card, and evidence of your address.
Transfer of the shares
Shares in a limited company pass by a written instrument of transfer. No notarial deed is called for, which is the single biggest procedural difference from a GmbH, and no journey is needed either.
Filings and papers
New name, new officers, new registered office and the register of people with significant control are filed. You receive the complete file and can begin trading at once.
Where a branch on the continent has been ordered as well, a fifth stage follows: the certified translations, the certification of signatures and the filing with the foreign register. That part takes longer than the transfer itself, and it is the reason a branch is quoted separately.
Price overview
Two figures, treated differently for VAT, plus the capital you decide to put in. Because the amount of capital, the register and the extent of the changes all move the total, we quote to the individual case rather than from a list.
| Item | Amount | VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price of the company | On request | No VAT on the shares themselves |
| Takeover service — coordination, transfer, register filings, identity check | On request | Austrian VAT of 20 per cent where the service is invoiced from Austria |
| Share capital | Reimbursed at nominal value — commonly EUR 1,000 | Not a fee at all; the money is and remains an asset of your company |
| EU branch, if wanted | Quoted separately | As for the takeover service |
Amounts named in conversation are always provisional. Only the written quotation binds us, and it names every position, including an estimate for each of the pass-through items below.
Charged on separately
Official charges and the fees of third parties reach you at cost, with the paperwork behind them. Which of these arise depends entirely on how far your plans reach.
| Register fees | Filings at Companies House or at the CRO for the changes made at the handover |
| Certification of signatures | Where a foreign register asks for certified signatures on the forms |
| Certified translations | Of the certificate and constitution, where a branch is to be entered on a register outside these islands |
| Apostilles | On documents that have to be produced abroad |
| Section 137 bond | The security an Irish company lodges where no director is resident in the EEA |
| Foreign register fees | For the branch entry, where one is ordered |
| Trade licence | Where the activity is a regulated one in the country you operate from |
A word about tax, before you ask
Ireland levies corporation tax at 12.5 per cent, one of the lowest rates in the European Union, and that figure is the reason a good many enquiries reach us. It deserves a plain answer.
The rate applies to profit that Ireland is entitled to tax. Where a company operates through a branch in another country — Austria, for example — the profit attributable to that branch is taxed there instead, and Austrian corporation tax is 23 per cent. Nothing about the letters after the company name changes that; what governs it is where the work is actually done.
So the case for a Ltd is not the rate. It is that no minimum capital is imposed, that the structure is quick to move and easy to alter, and that the company is understood in English wherever you take it. Where a structure does save tax we will say so; where it does not, we will say that too, and we will say it before you have paid for it.
Additional services
Take these with the company or come back for them later. Each is quoted on its own, because the work behind them varies so widely.
| Change of name | Availability check, resolution, filing with the register, new certificate |
| Change of director | Appointment and resignation, with the filings that follow |
| Company secretary | Appointment, and the office held on an ongoing basis for an Irish company |
| Section 137 bond | Arranged and renewed where no EEA-resident director is in place |
| Registered office and post | An address in Britain or in Ireland, with post scanned and forwarded |
| EU branch | Registration of a branch on a continental register, with the permanent representative it requires |
| Tax registration | Registration for corporation tax and, where the thresholds are met, for VAT |
| Business account | Application prepared and accompanied; the bank alone decides |
| Accounts and filings | Bookkeeping, statutory accounts, the annual return, and the branch returns where there is a branch |
| Translations and apostilles | Certified translations, notarial certifications, legalisation |
Two things worth doing first
Have the name looked at
A change of name is a small item on a quotation and a large disappointment if the name turns out to be taken. Give us up to three and we will check both registers for nothing.
Read the background first
What a company taken from the shelf can and cannot do for you, and the honest answer to whether you need one at all in a country that registers companies overnight.
Questions about cost and cover
How much capital do I have to put in?
As much or as little as you think right — no minimum is laid down for either form. Clients most often choose EUR 1,000, which is enough to look serious to a bank without tying up money you would rather use.
Whatever you choose is reimbursed to us on top of the purchase price, and it then belongs to your company. It is not a fee and it does not disappear.
Do I need a branch on the continent?
Only if the company will have a fixed presence there — premises, staff, a permanent representative, a regulated activity. Selling into the European Union from Britain or Ireland does not by itself call for one.
Where a branch is needed, it is registered on the local register, translations and certifications are required for it, and it is quoted separately. Tell us where you intend to be established and we will tell you whether you need it.
How is a Ltd cheaper than a GmbH?
In two places. There is no capital threshold to meet, so nothing has to be tied up before you begin. And the shares move by a written instrument rather than a notarial deed, which takes the notary's fee out of the transaction altogether.
Set against that, a company that is not domestic can be harder work with continental banks and public buyers. The comparison is on the GmbH price page.
What is a Section 137 bond and will I need one?
It is a form of security that Irish law requires from a company none of whose directors lives in the European Economic Area. You will need one if that describes your company and you do not want to appoint a director who is resident there. We arrange it, and the cost of the bond itself is charged on to you.
What has to be filed every year?
An Irish company files an annual return with accounts at the CRO. An English company files its accounts and a confirmation statement at Companies House. If there is a branch, the country it sits in wants its own bookkeeping and returns as well.
All of it can be handed to us, and it is worth deciding that at the outset rather than after a deadline has gone by.
Can I start invoicing straight away?
Yes, from the day the shares are transferred, provided your activity does not need a licence you have not yet got. Where it does, that licence and not the company is what determines your start date, and we will have told you so before you buy.
Why does the price only appear on request?
Because a single number would mislead almost everyone who read it. An English company with no changes beyond the name and one with an Irish register, a bond, a branch and a business account are not the same piece of work at all.
Describe the end state you want and you will have both figures, and the fees to expect on top, in writing — as a rule within the same working day.
Tell us what the company has to do
Where you will be operating, what you will be selling and by when it has to be running. That is enough for us to name a company from stock and put a price against it.
Telephone UK +44 114 6972907 IRL +353 12337845 AT +43 5524 22308 DE +49 69 96759363 CH +41 58 5105770
The rates and fees named here describe the position as we understand it today and serve as a first orientation only. They are not legal or tax advice, and we do not provide either. Which company suits your plans, where its profits fall to be taxed and what obligations follow are matters for a solicitor, a tax adviser or an accountant whom you instruct directly. We are happy to suggest partners.