Jurisdictions · United Kingdom
Family Office in the UK: Rules, Costs and Tax in 2026
The United Kingdom has no family office licence or regime: a family office is an ordinary company, partnership or trust, and it needs FCA authorisation only if it carries on regulated investment activities by way of business without an exclusion such as the group exclusion. Since 6 April 2025 the remittance basis for non-doms has been abolished; new residents after 10 years abroad can instead claim 4 years of relief on foreign income and gains, and inheritance tax on worldwide assets now depends on long-term UK residence. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
Best for: Families moving to the UK after at least 10 consecutive tax years abroad, who can claim 4 years of relief on foreign income and gains, and families whose office works only within their own group of companies, which the FCA says needs no authorisation.
At a glance
| Licence | No licence; FCA authorisation only for regulated activities without an exclusion |
|---|---|
| Minimum wealth | No wealth minimum in the FCA group exclusion or company rules; no family office regime |
| Who counts as family | No legal definition; FCA group exclusion covers companies in the same group |
| Serving several families | FCA authorisation to manage, advise or arrange deals for other families, unless excluded |
| Law and courts | Separate succession law in England and Wales and in Scotland; FSMA and FCA UK-wide |
| Substance | No family office rule; a company needs a director, a shareholder and an official address |
| Holding vehicles | Private company, LLP, limited partnership; trusts, with HMRC registration rules |
| Corporate tax | 25% above GBP 250,000, 19% up to GBP 50,000 (FY 2026); close investment-holding: 25% |
| Family office tax | No family office regime found |
| Personal income tax | 45% top rate; dividends up to 39.35%; 4-year foreign income relief after 10 years abroad |
| Inheritance tax | 40% above GBP 325,000; worldwide assets for residents of 10 of the last 20 years |
| Wills and succession | England and Wales: 1975 Act claims by family and dependants; Scotland: legal rights |
| Residence | No investor visa since February 2022; Innovator Founder has no minimum investment |
| Time to set up | Company usually registered online within 24 hours |
| Official fees | GBP 100 online incorporation; GBP 50 confirmation statement every 12 months |
Compare: UK vs DIFC · UK vs ADGM · UK vs DMCC · UK vs Saudi Arabia · UK vs Singapore · UK vs Hong Kong · UK vs GIFT City · UK vs Switzerland · UK vs Luxembourg · UK vs Mauritius · UK vs USA · UK vs Monaco · UK vs Liechtenstein · UK vs Malta · UK vs QFC · UK vs Bahrain · UK vs Cyprus · UK vs Jersey · UK vs Greece · UK vs Guernsey · UK vs Italy · UK vs Forest City · UK vs Germany · UK vs Portugal · UK vs Spain · UK vs France · UK vs South Africa · UK vs Canada · UK vs Australia · UK vs Ireland · UK vs Turkey · UK vs Japan · UK vs Cayman Islands · UK vs Bahamas · UK vs BVI · UK vs Bermuda
Licence and who qualifies
How is a family office licensed in the UK?
There is no family office licence or registration; a family office can be a private limited company registered with Companies House. It needs FCA authorisation (or an exemption) only if it carries on a regulated activity by way of business in the UK, such as managing investments that belong to another person with discretion, advising on investments or arranging deals; doing so without it breaches the general prohibition in section 19 of FSMA, a criminal offence. Article 69 of the Regulated Activities Order (current text) excludes managing assets of, and advising, another member of the same group, and the FCA says that if such activities 'take place wholly within a group of companies, then there is no need for authorisation'; the FCA says these exclusions are disapplied for MiFID investment firms and third country investment firms, and services to individual family members must be checked against other exclusions (for example for trustees) or the 'by way of business' test. [1, 2, 3, 9, 10]
What is the minimum wealth for a family office in the UK?
No wealth minimum in the official rules checked. The UK has no family office regime; the FCA group exclusion (Article 69 of the Regulated Activities Order, current text) depends only on the companies being in the same group, with no asset or wealth test, and the gov.uk requirements for a private limited company (at least one director, at least one shareholder, details of people with significant control and an official address) include no capital or wealth minimum. [2, 3, 9, 11]
Who counts as family?
No legal definition of 'family' applies, because there is no family office regime. Under the FCA rules what matters is whose assets are handled: the group exclusion covers companies in the same group, and managing your own property is not the regulated activity of managing investments, which needs assets belonging beneficially to another person. The FCA adds that discretionary management as a trustee is caught even though the trustee is the legal owner. [2, 3, 10]
Can one office serve several families?
A multi-family office that, by way of business in the UK, manages investments belonging to clients with discretion, advises on investments or arranges deals in investments needs FCA authorisation unless an exclusion or exemption applies. The group exclusion only covers activities within one group of companies, so it does not cover serving unrelated families. [1, 2, 3, 10]
Law, substance and vehicles
Which law and courts apply?
Succession law differs inside the UK: the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 extends to England and Wales, while Scotland's main inheritance law is the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964. Financial services are regulated by the FCA under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) for activities carried on in the UK, while income tax has separate Scottish rates. [1, 12, 13, 14]
What substance is required?
No family office substance rule exists because there is no family office regime. A private limited company needs at least one director (a company secretary is optional), at least one shareholder, details of people with significant control and an official address; directors may need to verify their identity with GOV.UK One Login before registration. [9, 11]
Which holding vehicles are available?
Private limited company, limited liability partnership (LLP) and limited partnership, all registered at Companies House. Trusts: HMRC lists bare, interest in possession, discretionary, accumulation, mixed, settlor-interested and non-resident trusts. UK resident express trusts (unless excluded), and non-UK trusts liable to UK tax or acquiring UK land, must register on HMRC's Trust Registration Service; a taxable trust created on or after 6 April 2021 must register within 90 days of becoming liable for tax. [4, 5, 15]
Tax
What is the corporate tax rate?
Corporation tax for the financial year starting 1 April 2026 (same as 2023 to 2025): main rate 25% on profits over GBP 250,000, small profits rate 19% on profits up to GBP 50,000, and marginal relief (standard fraction 3/200) in between. A family office or holding company pays these ordinary rates, except that a close investment-holding company (a close company that does not exist mainly to trade or to let land to unconnected persons, for example one that mainly holds investments) cannot use the 19% rate or marginal relief and pays the 25% main rate on all its profits. [14, 16, 17]
Are there tax incentives for family offices?
No tax regime specific to family offices or family investment companies was found. The only special rate in HMRC's corporation tax table is 20% for unit trusts and open-ended investment companies. [16]
Is there personal income tax?
Income tax for 2026-27 (UK main rates, not the separate Scottish rates): 20%, 40% and a top additional rate of 45% on income over GBP 125,140; the GBP 12,570 personal allowance is reduced by GBP 1 for every GBP 2 of income over GBP 100,000. Dividends are taxed at 10.75%, 35.75% and 39.35% from 6 April 2026 (8.75%, 33.75% and 39.35% in 2025-26) after a GBP 500 allowance, and capital gains at 18% and 24%. The remittance basis was abolished from 6 April 2025: people in their first 4 tax years of UK residence after at least 10 consecutive tax years abroad can claim relief on foreign income and gains (losing the personal allowance and capital gains annual exempt amount), and former remittance basis users can designate foreign income and gains from before 6 April 2025 under the Temporary Repatriation Facility at 12% in 2025-26 and 2026-27 and 15% in 2027-28. [6, 14, 18]
Is there inheritance or estate tax?
Inheritance tax is 40% above the GBP 325,000 nil-rate band (plus GBP 175,000 residence nil-rate band when a home goes to children or grandchildren, tapered above GBP 2 million estates), 20% on chargeable lifetime transfers and 36% if 10% or more goes to charity; thresholds are frozen to the end of 2030-31. Estates left to a spouse, civil partner or charity are normally tax-free, and gifts may be taxed if the giver gave away more than GBP 325,000 and dies within 7 years. From 6 April 2025 non-UK assets are in scope for long-term UK residents (resident in at least 10 of the last 20 tax years), who stay in scope for 3 to 10 tax years after leaving; from 6 April 2026, 100% business and agricultural relief is capped at GBP 2.5 million per person (up to GBP 5 million with a late spouse's unused allowance), with 50% relief above. [7, 8, 14, 19, 20, 21, 22]
Succession and residence
How do wills and succession work?
In England and Wales a person can dispose of their estate by will, but if the will or intestacy rules do not make reasonable financial provision, a spouse or civil partner, a former spouse who has not remarried, a cohabitant of 2 years, a child, a person treated as a child of the family or a person maintained by the deceased can apply to court under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (where the deceased died domiciled in England and Wales). In Scotland the surviving spouse or civil partner and children have 'legal rights' to one third or one half of the moveable estate (money, shares and similar, not land and buildings), which they can claim instead of what a will gives them. [12, 23, 24]
Can the family get residence?
There is no investor visa: the Tier 1 Investor route closed to all new applicants on 17 February 2022, and the Immigration Rules changes of 3 September 2026 (in force 8 October 2026) removed its remaining entry clearance and extension provisions. The Innovator Founder route is for people setting up an innovative, viable and scalable business endorsed by an endorsing body; it sets no minimum investment (only GBP 1,270 in personal funds held for 28 days), gives up to 3 years' permission, allows a partner and children, and the founder can apply to settle after at least 3 years if the settlement criteria are met. [25, 26, 27]
Time and fees
How long does set-up take?
Indicative, from gov.uk (checked 19 October 2026): a company registered online is usually registered within 24 hours, and postal applications take 8 to 10 days. No official time was checked for FCA authorisation, which a family office may not need. [11]
What are the official fees?
Indicative, Companies House fees (page updated 25 September 2026; the online incorporation and confirmation statement fees changed to these amounts on 1 February 2026): GBP 100 to incorporate a private limited company online or by software, GBP 124 on paper and GBP 156 for same-day incorporation (software); confirmation statement GBP 50 online (GBP 110 on paper) for each 12-month period; LLP GBP 100 by software or GBP 124 on paper; limited partnership GBP 124 (paper). There is no family office licence fee. [4, 11, 28]
Pros and cons
Pros
- No family office licence or wealth minimum: a company can be registered online for GBP 100, usually within 24 hours.
- An office whose activities stay wholly within its own group of companies needs no FCA authorisation under the group exclusion.
- New residents after 10 consecutive tax years abroad can claim relief on foreign income and gains for their first 4 tax years.
Cons
- High tax rates: 25% corporation tax above GBP 250,000 (on all profits of a close investment-holding company), a 45% top income tax rate and 39.35% on dividends.
- 40% inheritance tax on worldwide assets once a person is a long-term UK resident (10 of the last 20 tax years), lasting up to 10 tax years after leaving.
- No investor visa since February 2022, and an office serving individual family members or other families may need FCA authorisation.
