Horrified : every UK company balance sheet one-click away !

[css_jay99]

Damn!,

looks like the ex knows when I tell her I am broke that i hide the money in Co. accounts

looks like privacy is well overrated.



css_jay

[Nathan SJD Accountancy]

Quite a useful site, I just used it to have a snoop on a bloke round our way who thinks he's the local big I am, he definitely seems dodgy

Did a quick search on him

Company Director check. Companies House Information

he's been director of 24 companies! most of which have dissolved or are in liquidation!

He lives in a house that is worth less than mine ie ~£200k yet has a ferrari, and AMG C63 Merc which was an upgrade from a BMW B7 Alpina so 2 cars worth more than half the price of of your house, hmmmmm

None of the companies appear to have any money or are infact are in debt.

I smell a rat!

Also just used it to see how much the other contractor i work with has got in the bank, the gits got more than me

That site can get pretty addictive!

[doomage]

Some of the permies at my current contract used this information about their employer to help bolster their position when it came to pay review (to no avail of course, it was all done behind doors).

[d000hg]

Quite a useful site, I just used it to have a snoop on a bloke round our way who thinks he's the local big I am, he definitely seems dodgy

Did a quick search on him

Company Director check. Companies House Information

he's been director of 24 companies! most of which have dissolved or are in liquidation!

He lives in a house that is worth less than mine ie ~£200k yet has a ferrari, and AMG C63 Merc which was an upgrade from a BMW B7 Alpina so 2 cars worth more than half the price of of your house, hmmmmm

None of the companies appear to have any money or are infact are in debt.

I smell a rat!

Also just used it to see how much the other contractor i work with has got in the bank, the gits got more than me

Cool site, though it claims I have current liabilities of £20k which is news to me!

[DannyR]

Hi all,

Many thanks for your answers.

What about this solution :

Creating an offshore company as the holding of the UK ltd company using the following setup :

1) The UK ltd company is given a "nominee director" which is a proxy (but real) name with power of attorney that protects the identity of the real director.

2) The UK ltd company is given a "nominee shareholder" which is the offshore company which would be the main and unique shareholder of the UK ltd company.

3) All the profits of the UK ltd company are distributed as dividends to the offshore holding company so that the balance sheet of the UK ltd is always close to zero and the balance sheet of the offshore holding company is hidden away from the public eye.

4) Dividends from the offshore holding company are drip-fed to myself (and declared and taxed as foreign income).

5) The offshore holding company can itself have also a "nominee director" and "nominee shareholder" to add a second layer of anonymity.

Does anybody see any flaws with such solution, specially :

1) Is it legally feasible ?

2) Would it be a problem for agencies to be billed by a UK ltd whose director is a proxy and whose main shareholder is an offshore company rather than a private person ?

3) Using that legal structure would my name stay completely invisible from the UK ltd company info and operations ?

4) Any other potential flaws you can think about ?

Many thanks in advance for your enlightening answers.

Cheers.

[d000hg]

Why so paranoid? This is how businesses work.

[northernladuk]

Stuff.

What exactly is your problem that you feel you need to make up fanciful set ups? Every single company lives with it, why can't you...

And to your idea. There are cleverer people than you making these schemes up and there are equally clever people seeing through them and shutting them down. In the current climate of clamping down on tax avoidance anything like this is risky idea. Do it properly or don't at all.

[quackhandle]

Hmmm, that's some paranoia, although I too found those sites t'other week, and did a check on myco, interesting reading but it's hardly MI5/don't tell George Smiley info. If you feel that strongly about it basically don't pay any bills delete all your interweb based accounts, give up the life you know and go and live in a hippy commune ie off the grid. Or with all the rest of survivalists in the Nevada desert. But remember those satellites will always be watching YOU!

To the OP, what would you do if you bagged a government/banking contract for oodles of cash?

qh

[TestMangler]

I am shocked that you have to pay for a view to those records. I know of websites that do it for free. Have a look at Company Check Website - find free UK Limited company information.

LOL, according to that website, my co had liabilities of nearly .5 Million in 2006 !!!!

That's not good if true. It's not though Where TF do they get some of that info from ?

[TestMangler]

That site can get pretty addictive!

What he said