[maverick-iceman]

What are the advantages of this in a world which is transitioning towards remote work?

The UK has the best and cheapest process to incorporate a company (it takes literally 15 mins and 40£ to form an LTD)

And you can be CEO from everywhere in the world!

Granted the country you are living in might receive your UK LTD bank account informations pursuant the Common Reporting Standard/Global FATCA [0]

That opens a whole lot of considerations because odds are that your home country has a higher corporate and VAT tax rate than the UK or just wants to come after you for paying taxes there while using your native country roads , airports, IT infrastructure and hospitals.

I had to look into this case recently: Swedish entreprenur owning a UK LTD , working (and hiring) remotely within the UK but living in Sweden

Sweden says clearly that doesn't want any part of foreign companies incorporated outside its borders by its own citizens:

[1]"Entities formed/registered/incorporated outside of Sweden (foreign legal entities) are not considered resident in Sweden for income tax purposes, not even if their place of effective management is situated in Sweden"

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Reporting_Standard

[1] https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementati...

[johnday]

The UK has a favourable human rights record compared to almost everywhere else in the world. It is a significantly better place to live than most countries on earth if you are in any minority category.

Civil amenities are also significantly improved, as well as one of the most effective (physical) and cheapest health care services.

For all the crap it has received over the last decade, much of it justified, it is still an excellent place to be.

[i_have_an_idea]

> The UK has a favourable human rights record compared to almost everywhere else in the world.

Julian Assange would disagree with that.

> Civil amenities are also significantly improved, as well as one of the most effective (physical) and cheapest health care services.

It is cheap, but it sure isn't as effective as private healthcare. Wait times on NHS treatment start at several months and can be years. I don't know about you, but waiting months to have a serious condition diagnosed and treated isn't what I'd call 'effective' healthcare.

> it is still an excellent place to be.

Oh, it sure isn't for tech workers. The taxes are very high, the public services you get back are shoddy, certainly shoddier than what you'd be able to afford with your job in the US. The salaries are 2-4 times lower, depending on your experience.

On the other hand, if you're working at a low income job, then it's not too bad -- you usually can qualify for certain benefits like housing and min wage is livable in most parts of the country (except London). But, given the context, I assume OP is a tech worker and, for a tech worker, unless you're fleeing war or conflict, there are many, much better options. The US is the obvious one, but even working remotely from most central or eastern European countries is going to be a better experience and lifestyle than the UK.

[johnday]

> Julian Assange would disagree with that.

For all that he has suffered, I'm not sure he would. The bar is low.

> It is cheap, but it sure isn't as effective as private healthcare.

The UK also has private healthcare.

> The taxes are very high, the public services you get back are shoddy, certainly shoddier than what you'd be able to afford with your job in the US.

The taxes are quite high; the public services are certainly not shoddier than you can find in most cities in the US.

> The US is the obvious one, but even working remotely from most central or eastern European countries is going to be a better experience and lifestyle than the UK.

It depends what you value (personally I would like to be around people who speak the same langauge, for a start); and as I qualified in my post, whether you are part of any social minorities.

[boghy8823]

I had visited Edinburgh 2 years ago and we just loved it. However, we postponed our move because of Covid but now we are ready to take the plunge. I too, agree that central Europe is great from a lot of aspects but the language barrier is kind of a deal breaker. I reckon I couldn't get to speak fluent German or Dutch in like...never