UK and International Tax news
Register of Overseas Entities Update
Thursday 28th September 2023
The Register of Overseas Entities came into force in the UK on 1 August 2022 through the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022.
The Register is held by Companies House and requires overseas entities that own land or property in the UK to declare their beneficial owners and/or managing officers. There are sanctions for those who do not comply, including restrictions on buying, selling, transferring, leasing or charging their land or property in the UK.
Overseas entities that want to buy, sell, transfer, lease or raise a charge against property or land in the UK, must register with Companies House and confirm their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers.
The rules apply to overseas entities that have bought property or land on or after 1 January 1999 in England and Wales, and 8 December 2014 in Scotland. Overseas entities only need to register property or land bought in Northern Ireland on or after 1 August 2022. Entities that have disposed of property or land after 28 February 2022 will also need to give details of those dispositions.
Overseas entities that have not registered with Companies House face restrictions on selling, transferring, leasing or raising charges against their property or land. Overseas entities also cannot buy any new UK property or land without an Overseas Entity ID.
All entities on the register need to file an update statement every year to confirm that the information held is correct and up to date, unless they have successfully applied to be removed from the register. An update statement must be filed even if nothing has changed.
It is a criminal offence not to file the update statement and entities may face prosecution or a financial penalty if they do not file. Overseas Entity IDs will become invalid if an entity does not file the update statement on time. They will not become valid again until they bring their record up to date and file their update statement. In addition, entities will not be able to buy, sell, transfer, lease or raise charges against property or land in the UK if they miss their filing deadline and their Overseas Entity ID is invalid.
Companies House is also working on an online service for those who wish to apply to be removed from the Register of Overseas Entities. An overseas entity will be able to apply to be removed from the register if it is no longer registered as the proprietor (owner) of land or property in the UK.
If you would like more information on the above, please contact Keith Rushen on 0207 486 2378.
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