Holding Company in UK

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What is a Holding Company in UK?

A holding company is a type of business that deals specifically with assets, investments and management, rather than providing goods and services with a view to making a profit from production and sales. It will usually be limited by shares and its main activities will involve owning assets in another company or many companies. Assets could be in the form of shares, intellectual property and real property.
Holding companies may also be responsible for the supervision and management of other companies, in addition to or instead of holding shares and receiving dividends from their shareholdings. Aside from these functions, a holding company will normally conduct no other type of business activity.

The other companies in which assets are held are known as “subsidiaries“. Holding companies in the UK that own more than 50% of another company’s shares are known as “parent” companies of these subsidiaries.

The legal requirements of a holding company

In order to qualify as a holding company, the Companies Act 2006 (sec. 1159) states that it will be considered the subsidiary of a holding company in the following circumstances:

  • The parent company holds greater than 50% of the voting rights in the subsidiary.
  • The parent company is a member of the subsidiary and has the right to appoint or remove a majority of its board of directors.
  • The parent company is a member of the subsidiary and, in accordance with an agreement with other shareholders, it alone controls a majority of the voting rights in the subsidiary.

Tax liabilities of a holding company

One of the foremost attractions of this type of company is the potential for tax savings.
Most share disposals and dividend payments are exempt from tax.
If a holding company owns a “substantial shareholding” of at least 10% of the ordinary shares in a subsidiary for a period of 12 consecutive months during a two-year period preceding the disposal, it can dispose of these shares without facing any tax liability, as long as both the holding company and its subsidiary are active businesses for a 12-month period before and after the disposal.
A holding company will also be exempt from VAT taxable supplies if its basic functions are:

  • The acquisition of shares in subsidiaries.
  • Receiving dividend payments from these shareholdings.
  • Defending itself and its subsidiaries from takeovers.
  • Disposing of shareholdings in subsidiaries.


HMRC does not view these
functions as “taxable supplies”. Therefore, any holding company that operates with these basic functions alone will not be liable for VAT. It is not possible for this type of holding company to voluntarily register for VAT. However, if it provides, or intends to provide, taxable supplies to a subsidiary (for example, supervision and management services), it will be permitted to voluntarily register for VAT. Compulsory VAT registration will apply if the annual taxable income of the holding company exceeds £85.000 (2018-19).

The word "holding" in a company name

The use of the word “holding” (or “holdings“) is no longer considered “sensitive”.
You can now include this word in your company name without seeking permission from CH.

Register a holding company

A holding company can be set up in exactly the same way as any other private company limited by shares. It must be legally incorporated at Companies House and adhere to strict statutory filing requirements. BolagsRegistrering offers a range of online formation packages for registering a company limited by shares in just 24 hours. The following information will be required on the application form:

  • Company name.
  • Registered office address.
  • SIC Standard Industrial Classification
  • Directors details (minimum of one).
  • Shareholders details (minimum of one).
  • Memorandum and articles of association.
  • Share capital – details of the shares issued to shareholders.
  • Information about, PSC, people with significant control.
  • Supporting documentation for the use of sensitive words in the company name.

Your application form will be submitted to Companies House. Provided everything is in order, your new company will be registered within 24 hours and we will send you a confirmation email with digital copies of your incorporation documents. Hardcopy documents (if applicable) will be posted to your registered office within 24 hours of incorporation.

You can use our Supportsite to monitor the progress of your application once it has been submitted. After incorporation, this facility can be used to manage and update your company details online, file and update annual confirmation statements  and report changes to Companies House if you have our LTD Service.