Most Oxford founders incorporate a private limited company online with Companies House, which costs £100 and is usually done within 24 hours, after every director has verified their identity (checked October 2026). From that day the company owes Companies House a confirmation statement and annual accounts, and owes HMRC a Company Tax Return, with VAT, PAYE and workplace pension duties added as it grows. In Oxford, free starting points include the Business and Intellectual Property Centre at Westgate Library, Enterprise Oxfordshire and, for University members, Oxford University Innovation. This guide sets out the official rules, the local help and what to check before you pay a solicitor or accountant.

The legal and tax basics at a glance

The figures below come from GOV.UK and were checked in October 2026. Fees and thresholds change, so confirm them on the linked pages before you act.

  • Incorporation: £100 online or by software, £124 by post, according to the Companies House fees list. Postal applications take 8 to 10 days.
  • Confirmation statement: £50 online, £110 on paper, at least once a year.
  • Identity verification: a legal requirement for directors and people with significant control since 18 November 2025.
  • Corporation Tax: 19% on profits of £50,000 or less and 25% on profits over £250,000, with marginal relief in between, according to the GOV.UK Corporation Tax rates page.
  • VAT: registration is compulsory once VAT taxable turnover goes over £90,000, according to HMRC's guidance on when to register.
  • Accounts deadlines: first accounts are due 21 months after registration, later accounts 9 months after the year end.

Registering your company with Companies House

The GOV.UK registration service walks you through the name, the people involved, the share structure and the address. One step that older guides leave out is identity verification. Under the Companies House identity verification rules, every director needs a personal code before the company can be registered. You can get one free through GOV.UK One Login (by app, by answering questions or at a Post Office), or ask an Authorised Corporate Service Provider to verify you. If you are already a director of another company, you must give your code with that company's next confirmation statement; the company cannot file one without it.

Your registered office must be an appropriate address. The GOV.UK address rules say it must be a physical address in the same UK country where the company is registered, that post sent there must reach someone acting for the company, and that senders must be able to get confirmation of delivery. A Royal Mail PO Box can no longer be used. You can use an accountant's or solicitor's address with their permission, which also keeps a home address off the public register. You must also give a registered email address, which Companies House does not publish.

Every company also needs a memorandum and articles of association. The government publishes model articles that many small companies adopt unchanged. Founders who expect to raise investment often ask a solicitor whether the model articles suit their plans, for example on share classes or what happens when a founder leaves.

Directors' duties and the annual compliance calendar

Incorporation creates obligations that sit with the directors personally. The GOV.UK guide to directors' responsibilities is blunt about this: you can hire an accountant to handle the work day to day, "but you're still legally responsible for your company's records, accounts and performance". Missing duties can lead to fines, prosecution or disqualification.

A first-year calendar usually looks like this:

  1. Confirmation statement at least once every 12 months, confirming the company's details are up to date.
  2. First accounts to Companies House within 21 months of registration.
  3. Company Tax Return to HMRC within 12 months of the end of the accounting period.
  4. Corporation Tax payment 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period, which comes before the return deadline.

Companies that handle personal data, which covers almost any business with a customer list, usually also need to pay the ICO data protection fee unless an exemption applies.

Payroll, pensions and your first hires

Paying anyone, including yourself, triggers PAYE. HMRC's page on registering as an employer says you must register before your first payday, cannot register more than 2 months before you start paying people, and must register "even if you're only employing yourself, for example as the only director of a limited company". The same page explains what to do if your PAYE reference has not arrived in time.

Workplace pensions follow. The Pensions Regulator's employer guidance explains that under the Pensions Act 2008 every UK employer must put certain staff into a pension scheme and contribute: workers aged 22 or over, under State Pension age and earning at least £10,000 a year. Its online tool tells you when your duties start and when your declaration of compliance is due.

Intellectual property is the other early-hire issue. The GOV.UK overview of intellectual property notes that employees usually do not own IP they create as part of their work, while self-employed people usually do own what they create, even when commissioned, unless their contract says otherwise. That difference matters if your first developer or designer is a freelancer, so many founders have IP assignment terms drafted before work starts.

R&D tax relief and investor schemes

For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024, HMRC runs a merged R&D scheme and Enhanced R&D Intensive Support. The merged expenditure credit is 20%. Loss-making SMEs whose relevant R&D spending is at least 30% of total spending may instead qualify for ERIS, which allows an extra 86% deduction and a payable credit worth up to 14.5% of the surrenderable loss. HMRC's R&D relief guidance says first-time claimants must tell HMRC within 6 months of the end of the accounting period that they intend to claim, a deadline easily missed in a busy first year.

Early-stage investors often ask whether shares will qualify for the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme. According to HMRC's SEIS guidance, a company can raise up to £250,000 through SEIS, must have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees and gross assets of no more than £350,000 when the shares are issued, and its qualifying trade must not have been carried on for more than 3 years. Companies can ask HMRC for advance assurance before issuing shares. Eligibility depends on detail, so this is a point to raise with a qualified adviser rather than to assume.

Free and low-cost help in Oxford

Several organisations offer free support before you spend money on advisers:

  • BIPC Oxfordshire. The Business and Intellectual Property Centre, run by Oxfordshire County Council libraries, offers free support to new and existing businesses and to anyone with a business idea in the county, including workshops, expert consultations, market research databases and co-working desks. The British Library's list of local centres gives its address as Oxford Westgate Library, 228 The Westgate, Queen Street, Oxford OX1 1PE.
  • Enterprise Oxfordshire. Formerly OxLEP, it is described on Oxford City Council's business support page as Oxfordshire's business support hub, offering free advice to start-ups and established businesses on growth, funding, skills, innovation and net zero. It reports directly supporting 1,887 businesses in 2024/25.
  • Co-op Futures. Also listed by the City Council, Co-op Futures is a consultancy for co-operative, mutual and community-led businesses that helps with registration, legal structures and business planning.
  • The national Business Support Service. The government helpline for England on 0800 998 1098 gives free advice on starting and growing a business, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.

Routes for University of Oxford founders

If a founder is a student, staff member or alumnus, Oxford University Innovation (OUI) is the first call, because University rules on IP and approvals apply. OUI says it has created more than 350 companies since 1987. Its guide to how it supports founders explains that spinouts built on University-owned IP go through University approvals, an IP licence and incorporation, and that the standard equity split for most spinouts is 80% to the founding team and 20% to the University.

Founders whose idea does not use University IP can apply to the OUI Startup Incubator. At least one founder must be a current student, staff member or fully matriculated alumnus, and the team must be based in or able to travel regularly to Oxford. A free three-month pre-incubation phase is followed by up to 12 months of support with up to £10,000 in grant funding, a project manager and access to mentors and professional advisers, in return for a 5% equity stake (checked October 2026).

Choosing a solicitor and an accountant

There is no single right size of firm. What matters is that the adviser is properly regulated, has handled companies at your stage and quotes clearly. Practical checks:

  • Regulation. Use the Solicitors Regulation Authority register to check whether someone is a solicitor and whether a firm is regulated. For accountants, ICAEW's website has its official search of chartered accountants.
  • Relevant experience. Ask which recent clients resembled you: a University spinout, a software company or a consultancy each raise different questions on IP, share options and VAT.
  • Fees in writing. Ask for an engagement letter that sets out the scope, whether work is fixed fee or hourly, and what counts as extra.
  • Who does the work. Find out who will handle your file day to day and how quickly they usually respond.
  • Software and records. Agree how you will share bookkeeping records and who prepares what at year end.

Paid advice and free support complement each other. Use BIPC, Enterprise Oxfordshire or OUI to sharpen your questions, then take those questions to the adviser you choose. For more on living and working in the city, see the Oxford Society homepage.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. For decisions about your own company, check the GOV.UK pages linked above and speak to a qualified, regulated adviser.