Hello - first time poster here.
My wife (Dutch) and I (British) are directors and 50% shareholders of a profitable UK limited company (legal sector). We have significant cash reserves in the UK limited company and have partially paid off a mortgage on a UK property.
We are thinking about permanently relocating to the Netherlands. The administrative steps to achieve the relocation - what to do and in what order are a little daunting.
The primary goals are: 1) keep business running but operate via Dutch BV entity rather than UK limited company 2) get right to work in NL with permanent relocation in mind and mindful of Brexit; 3) get cash out of our business for use to buy Dutch property.
I have a very rough plan, but I might be mistaken and am very open-minded about changing it.
The plan is as follows:
- open up Dutch BV company now (and before the end of January Brexit date) [both as directors or just wife as director for now?];
- sell UK property;
- close UK business and claim tax relief associated with the same (members voluntary liquidation) - this allows us to take all the cash out the business at a tax rate of just 10%;
- relocate to the NL and claim the 30% tax rule [will this still apply after Brexit and can my wife/I apply or just me as expat? My wife has a Dutch passport and is an expat here (we have lived several years in the UK)];
- buy Dutch house with cash and small mortgage
Any thoughts or comments? Any deadlines? For example, is it important to open Dutch BV now and before the end of January Brexit date or does it not matter? What about the 30% rule in our situation? Is there anything else I should consider? Perhaps there is another strategy that we can adopt to achieve the overall goals, e.g. keep UK limited company open, etc. Somehow the 'clean break' - close UK limited company and operate form Dutch BV entity - seems desirable.