This guide looks at the requirements that ordinary partnerships have to meet.

In an ordinary partnership each of the partners is liable without limit for all the debts and obligations of the firm.

This includes self-employed sole traders and ordinary partnerships.

Ordinary partnerships also have to be registered with HMRC for tax purposes.

LLPs are more complicated to set up and run than ordinary partnerships, as they have to meet many of the same requirements as limited companies.

Unlike members of ordinary partnerships, the LLP itself is responsible for any debts that it runs up, not the individual partners.

You might choose to use an established business name of this kind if you are converting your ordinary partnership to an LLP.

These parallel those in countries from which Hungary seeks foreign investment - joint stock companies, private companies, joint enterprises, limited partnerships, and ordinary partnerships - on the basis that familiarity will encourage investment.

For information on the legal structures of partnerships, including an explanation of the differences between an ordinary partnership and limited liability partnerships, see the page on partnerships in our guide on legal structures: the basics.

Normal ordinary partnerships and consortiums are used as a vehicle for foreigners who want to partner with Turkish entities or participate in a tender and are ideal for achieving relatively short-term specific objectives for example construction of a bridge.

That which sets a limited partnership apart from an ordinary partnership is the fact that provided certain requirements are met 'limited partners' may escape full liability for partnership debts; thus their liability is limited to the extent of their investment in the partnership.