Agency wants lots of information about my offshore company.

[supergal]

My offshore company is signing a contract with a UK agency for a contract that will be taking place in Scandinavia. Now, besides the contract they have given me a questionnaire about things like: The names of tax advisors I am using , names of my accountants , board of directors of the company , where and from whom I bought the company , bank account location and when it was setup, owner of the account etc , etc.

I will not be a UK resident for this year and maybe upcoming years either .

Am I required by some law to provide that much detail ?

[ASB]

My offshore company is signing a contract with a UK agency for a contract that will be taking place in Scandinavia. Now, besides the contract they have given me a questionnaire about things like: The names of tax advisors I am using , names of my accountants , board of directors of the company , where and from whom I bought the company , bank account location and when it was setup, owner of the account etc , etc.

I will not be a UK resident for this year and maybe upcoming years either .

Am I required by some law to provide that much detail ?

It is up to the UK agency the terms on which they want to do business. If they don't want to do business without the provision of the information then they won't. All you can do is negotiate with them.

Of course they are also trying to protect themselves from any possible difficulties they may have from this transaction.

[Not So Wise]

Am I required by some law to provide that much detail ?

By law? no but then they are not required by law to hire your ltd if you do not accept their demands

Generally UK agency’s will not accept offshore company’s full stop due to threats of audits from hell from hector, been like that since about 1999

[BlasterBates]

The agency will be worried about the Scandanavians. Whereas offshore companies might exploit "loopholes" in the UK, I can't think of any case where they were used in other European countries other than for tax evasion. Beware!! most tax authorities or law courts in other countries won't indulge in long court cases, they'll just send the cops round, and take advice from an accountant where you'll be working. You need to take any foreign tax authority as seriously as you take the HMRC, as soon as you set foot in a country, whereever that is you may be liable for tax/VAT, and I would take it seriously especially if you're there longer than 6 months.