Company Formation · South East
Company formation in Rake
Setting up a limited company from Rake takes less than an hour of your time when it is done properly. We check the name, prepare the incorporation, guide you through the identity verification Companies House now requires, and register the company for Corporation Tax. Packages from £49 to £199, each with the Companies House fee shown separately.
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 Rake
Anyone in Rake 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 Rake, 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 Rake
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Rake clients know the fee for company formation before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for company formation are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Rake client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Rake to pay for, which is why the fee is the same here as anywhere in England; the work is done by people in the UK who answer the same day.
You get one contact for company formation, not a queue. Rake clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.
We explain company formation in the words Rake business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
You stay in control of company formation: drafts go to Rake clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Rake
Rake is in South East, in the GU33 postcode district, England. For businesses in England the tax rules are those set by the UK Parliament: the 20/40/45% income tax bands, Class 4 National Insurance for the self-employed at 6% and 2%, Corporation Tax at 19% to 25%, and Stamp Duty Land Tax on property. Business rates are set locally by the council.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Hill Side, South East | 1 mi | SW |
| Mint, The | 1 mi | NW |
| The Mint | 1 mi | NW |
| Langley, Chichester | 1 mi | NE |
| Hill Brow | 1 mi | SW |
| Combe, Harting | 1 mi | SE |
| Harting Combe | 1 mi | SE |
| Lower Green, East Hampshire | 1 mi | W |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Payments on account
A common surprise in Self Assessment is the January payment that is far larger than expected. That is the balancing payment for the year just ended plus the first payment on account for the year ahead, which HMRC sets at half of the bill just calculated. We put the figure in your hands months ahead and tell you how to adjust it legitimately when circumstances change.
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.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
The biggest change to Self Assessment in a generation is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, now live for higher-earning sole traders and landlords and arriving for the rest in stages. Quarterly updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, built from digital records. The practical consequence is that spreadsheet-and-shoebox bookkeeping is ending for anyone above the threshold.
Late filing penalties
Lateness is expensive in a way that compounds. For individuals, £100 immediately, then daily penalties, then percentage-based ones at six and twelve months, with interest running on unpaid tax throughout. For companies, Companies House penalties scale with delay and double on repeat, and HMRC adds its own for a late CT600. Filing on time is the cheapest tax planning there is.
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.
The VAT registration threshold
The £90,000 VAT threshold is measured over any twelve consecutive months, which is why a strong quarter can tip a business over unexpectedly. Registration must follow within thirty days of the end of the month the threshold was crossed. Below the threshold, voluntary registration is worth considering when customers are VAT-registered businesses and costs carry VAT.
Director's loan accounts
Money taken from a company has to be something: salary, dividend, expense reimbursement or loan. If it is a loan and remains outstanding nine months after the year end, the company pays tax at the dividend higher rate on it until it is repaid. Clearing the balance with a properly declared dividend before the deadline, where reserves allow, is routine year-end work.
Questions
Company Formation questions from Rake
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.
Can I use my home address?
You can, but it becomes public on the Companies House register as the registered office and as your service address. Most founders prefer not to. Our registered office service at £69 a year provides a London address for official post, and the £149 formation package includes the first year.
Do directors need to verify their identity?
Yes. Since 18 November 2025 every new director and person with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House before or at incorporation, through GOV.UK One Login or an authorised agent. We tell you exactly how to do it and check that the verification is linked before we file.
How long does incorporation take?
Companies House usually approves online incorporations within 24 hours, often the same working day. We need your chosen name, the registered office address, details of each director and shareholder with their identity verification, the share structure and your SIC code. Most clients give us everything in one conversation.
What does it cost in total?
Our formation-only fee is £49, plus the Companies House incorporation fee of £100 which we pass on at cost and show separately. So a basic formation is £149 all in. The £99 package adds Corporation Tax and PAYE registration, £149 adds a year's registered office, and the £199 startup pack includes registrations and bookkeeping setup.
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.
How do I get started from Rake?
Message us on WhatsApp or email with a sentence about your business and what you need. We reply in working hours with any questions and a fixed fee for company formation. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Rake clients are set up within a day.
Which deadlines matter most for company formation?
The next four dates that apply to company formation are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Rake clients we diarise every one of them from the day you join and send reminders before each, so the work is done in good time rather than in the last week before a penalty.
Fixed fees, filed on time, for Rake
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.