United Kingdom

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Business Environment

Business Practices

General information: Kwintessential Cross-cultural Solutions
Executive Planet
Opening hours and days: Banks open from Monday to Friday, from 9.30 to 15.30. In the City district of London, banks close at 15.00 and some are open on Saturday morning but schedules and services are very variable. Most shops have long opening hours and some supermarkets are even open 24 hours a day until 4pm on a Sunday.

Public holidays

New Year Day	January 1st
2nd January	2nd January (Scotland only)
Saint Patrick's Day	March 17 (in Northern Ireland only)
Good Friday	Friday before Easter
Easter Monday	Monday after Easter Sunday (except in Scotland)
May Day	first Monday of May
Spring Bank Holiday	Last Monday of May (except in Northern Ireland, where it is the first Monday of May)
Orangemen's Day	12th July (Northern Ireland only)
Summer Bank Holiday	last Monday of August (except in Scotland, where it is on the first Monday of August)
St Andrew's Day	November 30 (from 2008, in Scotland only)
Christmas Day	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26

Periods when companies usually close

There are no set times when companies close, but many close.

Between Christmas and New Year

Accounting Rules

Tax year: The fiscal year begins on April 5th and ends on April 4th of the next year.
Accounting standards: Finance Acts in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and regulations made under powers given by those Acts have included measures to ensure that companies choosing to adopt International Accounting Standards (IAS) or certain UK standards that are equivalent to IAS to draw up their accounts receive broadly equivalent tax treatment to companies that continue to use “mainstream” UK GAAP (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Accounting regulation bodies: Financial reporting
International Accounting Standards Board
Accounting reports: English companies must keep account books where are registered all the operations of the company and establish annual accounts including an annual report, a profit and loss account, a balance sheet, a table of financial flows, an appendix, an opinion of the auditors, a statement upon losses and earnings recorded, the comparison between the movements of interests of the shareholders and a note upon the result on historical costs basis.
Professional accountancy bodies: The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
Certification and auditing: Audit Commission and National Audit Office (NAO).
Accounting news: Accounting Web
Accountancy magazine

Tax Rates

Consumption taxes

Nature of the tax: Value Added Tax (VAT)
Tax rate: 15%
Reduced tax rate: United Kingdoms apply a reduced VAT rate of 5% on certain categories of goods and services, including children’s car seats or social housing. Water supplies, pharmaceutical products, medical equipment for disabled persons, books, newspapers, social services… are exempted of VAT.
Other consumption taxes: All informations are available on the website HM revenue and customs.

Corporate taxes

Company tax: Progressive rate from 21% to 28%
Tax rate for foreign companies: The UK has a low-tax, low-allowance system of taxation and the government believes it is important to maintain a competitive tax system.

A UK-resident company is subject to corporation tax on its worldwide profits with credit given for most overseas taxes. A non-UK-resident company is subject to corporation tax only in respect of the profits of its PE in the UK and chargeable gains on assets used or held for the purpose of the trade or PE. If a non-resident company carries on an investment activity in respect of UK sources of income, it will be subject to income tax. A company is UK tax resident if it is incorporated in the UK or, if not incorporated in the UK, if its place of central management and control is in the UK.
Capital gains taxation: Profits are taxed at a sliding rate between 21% and 28%.
Main allowable deductions and tax credit: Companies may deduct from gross trading profits all expenditure that is wholly and exclusively laid out for the purposes of the trade. Payments of indirect taxes are often deductible, as are most charitable contributions. Complicated provisions apply to deductions for certain employee share and share option schemes that, in general, do not follow the accounting treatment.
Other corporate taxes: National Insurance Contributions (NIC)
Licenses for motor vehicles
Municipal property tax (rates)

Individual taxes

Tax rate

Income tax rate	Progressive rate from 10% to 40%
GBP 0 - 2,440	10%
GBP 2,441 - 37,400	20%
Above GBP 37, 400	40%

Allowable deductions and tax credit: Personal allowances.
Expenses incurred in the performance of professional duties.
Some share-incentive, pension and savings schemes may confer tax advantages.

Double taxation treaties

Countries with whom a double taxation treaty have been signed: See the list of tax treaties signed by the United Kingdoms on the HM Revenue and Customs Department's website.
Whithholding taxes: Dividends: 0, Interest: 20%, Royalties: 22%

Sources of fiscal information

Tax Authorities: HM Revenue & Customs
Other domestic resources: UK Trade & Investment

Intellectual Property

National organizations: The UK Intellectual Property Office, The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).
The United Kingdom is part of the Agreement of Paris for the protection of industrial property and of the Agreement establishing the World Intellectual property Organization (WIPO). The United Kingdom signed the Patent Co-operation Treaty and the Agreement of Nice.
International membership: Member of the WIPO
Signatory to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Intellectual Property

National regulation and international agreements

Type of property and law	Validity	International agreements signed
Patent Patent Act 1977	20 years	Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Strasbourg agreement concerning the International Patent Classification
Trademark Trademarks Act 1994	10 years	Trademark law treaty Nice agreement Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement
Design Design Act 1949	5 years
Copyright Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988	70 years except for typographical arrangements, where it is 25 years.	Berne convention Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against unauthorized duplication of their phonograms Rome convention for the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and Broadcasting organizations WIPO copyright treaty WIPO performances and Phonograms treaty
Industrial Models

Legal Framework

Independence of justice: Judiciary is completely independent in U.K.
Equal treatment of nationals and foreigners: Britain has large numbers of immigrants and locally born children of immigrants, who receive equal treatment under the law. In practice, their living standards are lower than the national average, and they complain of having come under increased suspicion since the July 2005 terrorist attacks in London and the alleged foiled plot in August 2006.
The language of justice: English
Recourse to an interpreter: In case of penal action, an interpreter should be made available for individuals who do not speak or understand English sufficiently. Interpreters should be registered with the NRPSI (National Register of Public Service Interpreters).
Sources of the law and legal similarities: United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy based on parliamentary democracy. In the absence of a written constitution, the main source of the law in the country is the common law with early Roman and modern continental influences. Scotland has a separate legal system. UK accepts compulsory ICJ (International Court of Justice) jurisdiction but with reservations. Being a member of the EU, the national law in UK needs to comply with the conditions of the Community legislation.
Checking national laws online: British Law - Community information site for citizens and small businesses

Standards

National standards organizations: British Standards Institution
Integration in the international standards network: The UK is a member body of the International Organization for Standardization and a full member of the International Electrotechnical Commission. It is also a member state of the International Telecommunication Union.
There are also some specific EU standards: European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), European Telcommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), European Committee for Standardization (ECS), handling all other standards.
Classification of standards: There are over 27000 British Standards in use and 2000 are produced annually. CE is the European certification mark. It is compulsory for a country to be able to sell on the market.
Online consultation of standards: The BSI Shop offers a full catalogue of standards and publications, many of which are available as PDF downloads.
Certification organizations: The United Kingdom Accreditation Service. Follow this link for a list of Certification Body Schedules.

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