Ltd companies and anonymity

[tuk]

I'm thinking that any future property I purchase should be in a Ltd company structure. The only thing I don't like is that anyone would be able to look my name up online and see that I own a property investment company and how much it is worth.

I don't mind a lawyer being able to find what I own, I'm just not sure I'm comfortable with my friends and colleagues being able to look me up and say "ooh they're worth £X". Not least because they might not even understand what they're looking at, and possible think I'm far wealthier than I am 😆 Furthermore, there seems to be resentment towards landlords which other investors don't have to suffer.

I don't suppose there is any practical way anyway around this..?

Also, for the Ltd company's registered address, I was thinking of using a 'virtual trading address' such as those that UKpostbox offer, just so I don't have to give my home address to tenants. Is this something others are using?

Thanks!

[EvolutionBlogger]

Many people use their accoutnant's address for their business address.

As a company director, you have certain responsibilities that you need to uphold. As such, you need to be accessible and your details need to be publicaly available. 

[Stuart Phillips]

Unless you are a large limited company you dont publish anything that would confirm your net worth, however you will show which lenders have a charge over the company. Even then there are no figures published.

You can use a virtual company, or as @EvolutionBlogger says, use your accountants address. Both are perfectly acceptable.

[tuk]

Thank you both for your for replying so quickly. That's very helpful and I hadn't realised about the accountant's address, that sounds convenient.

 

2 minutes ago, Stuart Phillips said:

Unless you are a large limited company you dont publish anything that would confirm your net worth, however you will show which lenders have a charge over the company. Even then there are no figures published.

That's interesting. I thought one could just look up on, for example, companycheck.co.uk and see the reported total value of assets, liabilities and net value of the company. I've done this myself before to check out other people... Even without an accurate asset valuation, anyone in the know would realise that for every £300k of loans you have, you're likely to have at least £100k equity. 

What am I misunderstanding then, does one not have to report these figures publicly? And if that's the case, why can I see them for other people on companycheck.co.uk?

Thanks again!

[Stuart Phillips]

No idea. But I can tell you none of the figures for Aalto Mortgages ltd are true.

I've no debts, cash is about right, and as a services business, I've no assets to speak of save a couple of laptops.

I think it's a scam frankly.

[tuk]

Interesting OK..

Is it possible that the stated liabilities are monies that you owe yourself by way of an initial loan you made to your company? And perhaps the assets are director's loans made from your company to yourself which is effectively a loan (asset) that your company owns?

I would be interested to here from anyone else who is also skeptical about this.

Thanks

[EvolutionBlogger]

If you have a limited company, there are filings that are uploaded to the HMRC website. If someone is willing to spend the time, then they will learn some information about your business. 

Have you considered buying property via your pension? It's possible to buy property inside a SSAS pension, I wrote an article about it here. As your pension is a trust, there's no disclosures on the HMRC website. 

 

[david slater]

I don’t think many people will have the time, inclination or knowledge how to find you through companies house but using a registered office service provided by an accountant or other provider will help you keep anonymity if that is important to you.

 

[Guest]

My opinion is that reducing anonymity is the number one reason why the government have encouraged investors to move towards limited companies through the Section 24 tax changes. There are estimated to be large numbers of personal landlords who don't report their property income to HMRC and therefore avoid paying any tax. Buying through a limited company gives full visibility to the government and HMRC to ensure that all tax is paid.

So, while loss of anonymity is going to be unavoidable, I agree with the other comments on here that most people won't have the inclination or understanding to investigate your company. Anyone who does have the time to research your net worth and hold resentment is probably not someone you want to be spending time with anyway!

Ultimately, it will be up to you to decide whether the loss of anonymity is worth it for the tax advantages.

Chris (www.fintentional.co.uk)