foreign director & activity / travel expenses

[martiald]

Hello,
I wish to open a Limited Company in UK but I am a french citizen and I live in France (I know that I will need an english address for the company and a nominee director who lives in uk).
Still, my activity (software engineer consultancy) will not be done in France but in Belgium (at the beginning), and then in UK or in any other european country.

So my first question is, can I open a Limited company in england and use it for my professionnal activity in Belgium (when I live in France).

Most probably I will not get any salary from this company but I would invoice my activity to this uk company, with an other company in France (as a "auto-entrepreneur in France, similar to a freelance status). So I will have a salary in France as a freelance (and I'll pay my taxes in France)

My second question is concerning the expenses. how can I get expenses from this company (travels from Marseille to Brussels every week + rent a flat in Brussels), when I don't get any salary from the uk company as a director ? can I justify that as the director (not as the consultant because the consultant is officially from an other company, even if it is the same person) I need to be every week in Brussels ?

To resume :
1- my company in uk will invoice a company in belgium
2- as a french freelance I will invoice the company in uk, and perform my activity in belgium
3- as the director of the uk company I want to claim all my travel, rent, restaurant exenses for the time I spend in Belgim (some 3-4 days a week).

Thanks very much for your help and support.

[SallyPlanIT]

Hi Martiald

If you have a UK company then you pay your company tax in the UK. You may also struggle to find a 'nominee' director as this would mean that they are legally liable for the company affairs.

Why do you want a UK company? Why not just use the French one?

[Lumiere]

If you have a UK company then you pay your company tax in the UK.

Tax is paid where money is earned (c)

I also heard that company registration in the UK is much cheaper than in some EU countries (£20 instead of thousands of euro), this may answer the Why question.

OP, this might help - Contractors