A limited company is a separate legal entity to that of the owners. this essentially means that the company's finances are completely separate from those of the owners (shareholders).

Benefits:

		the shareholders are not liable to for the debts of the company, except to the extent of the share capital that they own
		lower rate of taxation on the company profits
		profits are distributed to shareholders through dividends which are not subject to NI
		a director can also be a shareholder

Responsibilities:

		must be registered with Companies House
		must have at least one director
		must have shareholder(s)
		accounts must be filed each year with Companies House
		accounts must also be filed with HM Revenue & Customs - a corporation tax return must be filed with HM Revenue & Customs
		an annual return must be filed with companies House - employees, including directors, must pay income tax and national insurance contributions (class 1), based on their earnings.