Company Formation · Wales
Company formation in Cardiff
Company formation in Cardiff from an accountant rather than a formation website, which means the structure is chosen with your tax position in mind. Share capital, alphabet shares if you need them, a registered office service if you do not want your home public, PAYE registration if you will take a salary. One fixed fee, online, Companies House fee passed on at cost.
from £49 · fixed, one-off
Next deadlines
- Companies House identity verification for directors and PSCs, phased in from 18 November 2025
- Confirmation statement due within 14 days of your review date, at least once every 12 months
- Companies House accounts due 9 months after your year end (a 31 December year end files by 30 September)
- Corporation Tax payment, 9 months and 1 day after your year end (a 31 December year end pays by 1 October)
Who this is for
Company Formation for Cardiff
Anyone in Cardiff starting a business as a limited company: contractors and consultants leaving employment, sole traders incorporating as profits grow, two or more founders who need the shareholding agreed properly, property investors setting up a company to hold rentals, and overseas founders who need a UK company with a UK registered office.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Company name check against the register and the sensitive-words rules before filing
- Incorporation at Companies House with articles, share structure and PSC register completed correctly
- Directors' identity verification guidance under the rules in force since November 2025
- Certificate of incorporation, memorandum, articles and share certificates delivered electronically
- Corporation Tax registration with HMRC and your Unique Taxpayer Reference, plus PAYE where included
- A first-year calendar: confirmation statement, accounts and tax deadlines diarised with reminders
How it works
Company Formation from Cardiff, step by step
Scope the job
We find out what you need filed, when it is due and what state the records are in, and tell you which fixed-fee package applies.
Agree the price
The fee is confirmed in writing. There is no hourly billing and nothing added for questions during the work.
Hand over the records
Photographs, PDFs, software access or a spreadsheet, sent however suits you. We confirm what we have and what is missing within two working days.
Approve, then we submit
You review the draft with our explanation, sign off, and we file. Receipts, copies and the next deadlines come back to you immediately.
Why IGI
What you get in Cardiff
The price for company formation is published on this page and is what a client in Cardiff pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.
Nothing for Cardiff is left to the last week. Each deadline relevant to company formation is tracked from the day you join, with the next four shown on every page we send you.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Cardiff to pay for, which is why the fee is the same here as anywhere in Wales; the work is done by people in the UK who answer the same day.
You get one contact for company formation, not a queue. Cardiff clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.
The output for Cardiff clients is never just a form. It is the form, a one-page summary of what it says, and a note of the decisions it points to for company formation.
Nothing is filed for Cardiff until you have reviewed and approved it. You see the draft, you ask questions, you sign off, then we submit and send you the receipt.
Local facts
About Cardiff
Cardiff is in Wales, in the CF10 postcode district, Wales. Businesses in Wales file with the same HMRC and Companies House as England, and for now the Welsh rates of income tax equal the English ones, though the Senedd can vary them. The practical differences are Land Transaction Tax on property and Welsh-specific business support schemes, and company names and documents may be in Welsh.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Cathays Park | 0.3 mi | N |
| Adamsdown | 0.6 mi | E |
| Riverside, Cardiff | 0.7 mi | SW |
| Saltmead | 0.8 mi | SW |
| Blackweir | 0.9 mi | NW |
| Butetown | 0.9 mi | S |
| Caerdydd | 0.9 mi | N |
| Atlantic Wharf | 1.0 mi | SE |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, extends to those over £30,000 in April 2027 and is planned for £20,000 in April 2028. It requires digital records in compatible software and four quarterly updates to HMRC each year, with a final declaration replacing the traditional return. Payment dates are unchanged.
Late filing penalties
Penalties are the clearest reason to work to deadlines. A Self Assessment return one day late costs £100 regardless of whether any tax is due; three months late adds £10 a day. Late company accounts start at £150 and reach £1,500, and double if the previous year was also late. None of this is negotiable afterwards except through a narrow reasonable-excuse appeal.
Payments on account
Payments on account catch out most people in their second year of self-employment. HMRC assumes next year's tax will match this year's and collects half in January and half in July, in advance, on top of the balancing payment. If profits are dropping you can apply to reduce them, but reducing them too far attracts interest. We calculate the right figure rather than guessing.
The Self Assessment calendar
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. Anyone new to Self Assessment must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which their untaxed income began. The online return and the balancing payment are due by 31 January, with a second payment on account on 31 July where they apply. Paper returns have an earlier deadline of 31 October and are rarely sensible.
Director's loan accounts
A director's loan account records money moving between a director and the company that is not salary or dividend. If the director owes the company money nine months and one day after the year end, the company pays section 455 tax at 35.75% of the balance, refundable only when the loan is repaid. Loans over £10,000 are also a benefit in kind unless interest is charged at HMRC's official rate.
Salary versus dividends
The salary-and-dividend split is the central planning decision for an owner-managed company. Salary costs employer National Insurance above £5,000 but is deductible; dividends are not deductible but attract lower personal rates and no National Insurance. The optimum changes each April with the thresholds and depends on the director's other income, so it should be set deliberately every year.
Corporation Tax rates and marginal relief
Corporation Tax is not a flat rate. Profits to £50,000 pay 19%, profits above £250,000 pay 25%, and the band between is taxed at an effective marginal rate of 26.5% through the marginal relief mechanism. Associated companies share the thresholds, which catches directors who own more than one company and is the most common cause of underpaid tax in owner-managed groups.
Questions
Company Formation questions from Cardiff
Can I form a company if I live outside the UK?
Yes. A UK company can have non-resident directors and shareholders, but it must have a UK registered office and directors must complete identity verification. Our non-resident formation service at £149 includes the registered office; HMRC registrations and a bank account introduction are handled in the £219 and £349 packages.
What happens after the company is formed?
You receive the certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles, share certificates and the company's authentication code. Then the deadlines start: first confirmation statement within 12 months and 14 days, first accounts within 21 months, Corporation Tax payment nine months after the first year end. We diarise all of them and remind you.
What is a SIC code and which one do I need?
The Standard Industrial Classification code describes what the company does and appears on the public register. You can have up to four. We pick the right ones from the official list for your trade. Changing them later is done through the confirmation statement, which is our £39 SIC change service.
What share structure should I have?
For a single founder, one ordinary share of £1 is usual. For two or more, the split should reflect the agreed ownership and may use different share classes to allow different dividend payments. We discuss this before filing, because changing it later needs resolutions and filings. We also advise on whether a shareholders' agreement is worth having.
When should I register for VAT and PAYE?
VAT when taxable turnover will exceed £90,000 in a rolling 12 months, or voluntarily before if it helps. PAYE before the first salary payment, including to yourself as director. Both are included in the £99 package or available separately at £49 each.
Does the company need to register for Corporation Tax?
Yes, within three months of starting to trade. HMRC usually issues the company's Unique Taxpayer Reference by post shortly after incorporation. Registration for Corporation Tax is included in our £99 package and above; the formation-only package leaves it to you, and we tell you how.
Is company formation in Cardiff really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Cardiff pays and what a client in any other part of Wales pays. It is confirmed in writing before work starts and the invoice matches the quote. Where a higher package applies because your situation is more complex, we say so at the quote stage, never afterwards.
Do you have an office in Cardiff?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Cardiff and every other UK postcode remotely, with records sent by WhatsApp or email and everything filed electronically. The absence of local premises is why the fee for company formation is the same in Cardiff as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Get a fixed quote for Cardiff today
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.