living in Germany, with a company in UK
living in Germany, with a company in UK
- simpler to manage a UK limited from anywhere (we tend as a family to move quite a lot, so the limited is a fixed point for my customers.
- the German limited is not "limited" if you run it alone. If something goes wrong, as you run it alone, you lose defacto the limited liability.
So, all in all, better to go this way even if sometimes it costs more (2 accountants one in UK and one in Germany). As said, for me the goal was and is not to pay less taxes. I am happily paying taxes. If I pay a lot it means I make a lot :)
I have looked into this myself some time ago, and the problem appears to be that some countries in Europe (including the UK) apply 'Incorporation Theory', while others (including Germany) apply 'Real Seat Theory'.
'Incorporation Theory' states that a company is governed by the law of the country where the company was incorporated. So far so good.
'Real Seat Theory', however, states that a company is governed by the law of the country where the actual decisions are made (location of company directors). In your case, this would be Germany. This means you may in fact be MORE personally liable now, since under German law your company is de facto German, but unlawfully so, and you have that way lost whatever protection you would have had under German law.
Again, caveats apply, I have a business but I am not an expert, though I feel you should consult one.
This is exactly the kind of worries that I would the EU to abolish. Not easy of course, and not something I would expect in a few months, but it there isn't anybody pushing in the right direction, we could wait forever...