Digitisation of company incorporation and taxation drives UK competitiveness

The digital drive in tax along with online company formation processes has helped make the UK one of the simplest places to do business in Europe according to a new report from TMF Group.

The professional services firm’s annual Global Business Complexity Index 2020 ranks 77 jurisdictions in order of ease of doing business with the UK sitting mid table as 44th most complex. France is the most complex in Europe ranked 12th globally with Spain placed 29th Italy 36th and Germany 40th.

A factor driving the UK’s relative simplicity is its tax system. It has a single corporation rate of 19% and two employment taxes – PAYE and National Insurance. By contrast in Germany companies must pay different taxes at federal state and local level.

Digitisation of the tax and accounting filing processes also contributes to reducing business complexity in...