Contractors: IR35 & general discussion

[Olivera]

SamR380 said:

Do you not do a lot of travelling and overnight stays with your work? Claiming mileage and hotels is a major advantage to being 'outside' for me, I could only consider an inside job if it was very local.

I've predominantly worked from home for years now, so that isn't a consideration for me currently. But yes, in the past I've worked away and being able to expense hotels and other costs is important in this situation.

[Deep Thought]

Olivera said:

SamR380 said:

Do you not do a lot of travelling and overnight stays with your work? Claiming mileage and hotels is a major advantage to being 'outside' for me, I could only consider an inside job if it was very local.

I've predominantly worked from home for years now, so that isn't a consideration for me currently. But yes, in the past I've worked away and being able to expense hotels and other costs is important in this situation.

+1

And similar here.

I've WFH exclusively since Mar 20, before that it was some time in office, some time WFH either week about or a few days a week.

TBH i would only ever consider WFH roles now. It works well for both my wife and i and i dont think we'd want to go back to me being away much.

But yes, like yourself inside or outside would come in to play greatly if there was an on site requirement (particularly as i fly over from NI).

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Been on a PAYE / Umbrella contract for 6 months and just accepted a 6 month extension on it.

Client are happy for me to only come in when I want, so I've been in something like twice since last November

Taxation is a little winceworthy but it's kind of novel to get a large lump sum hitting my personal bank account every month and knowing that it is actually mine without any doubt or uncertainty.

[Freakuk]

Likewise since 2020 I think I've been into an office 3 times (for my current employer - 14 months), and they will cover travel costs so it's no biggy for me currently.

If that were to change and/or would move to another contract and they expected me to be in the office every week and not getting compensated for it (within a certain distance) I'd probably a) give it a miss b) ask for a higher rate to cover this.

[Shaoxter]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Taxation is a little winceworthy but it's kind of novel to get a large lump sum hitting my personal bank account every month and knowing that it is actually mine without any doubt or uncertainty.

I got a nice surprise in Jan in the form of a tax refund from HMRC this year for a change!
The actual amount hitting my bank account is half of what it was under a Ltd co but at least I can keep all of it

[Olivera]

Shaoxter said:

The actual amount hitting my bank account is half of what it was under a Ltd co but at least I can keep all of it

It would be interesting to see calcs of LTD vs PAYE from 23/24 tax year on, just to see how much advantages of the former have diminished.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Olivera said:

It would be interesting to see calcs of LTD vs PAYE from 23/24 tax year on, just to see how much advantages of the former have diminished.

Can't speak for anyone else but I'm no worse off financially as I negotiated an uplift in my rate to compensate and I'm not incurring a lot of expenses.

[wombleh]

Rates are through the roof in my area (architect), average market rate is something like 30-50% up on this time last year and that's outside London.

[vindaloo79]

I have just started to notice a lot of architect roles, I’m currently a dev via consultancy but with architect title at the consultancy.

I have a meeting on weds to see what the hidden bits are that architects are (supposed to be) doing that I’m not seeing. I am thinking of pushing to move to that role in anticipation of going contracting next year again.

I miss the time off I had more than the pay differential…

[anonymous-user]

Looking for some advice please chaps!

As some of you know, I left Ltd Co contracting/consultancy almost 2 years ago now, due to being offered an attractive role as an employee.

I have just received a letter from HMRC bking me for not filing my self assessment tax return by the end of January, which is entirely my fault. New house, new child, busy at work. Too much happening.

I have just gone online to do the self-assessment, and they are asking about my tax circumstances for the year 6th April 2021 to 5th April 2022, and my last month as a contractor was April 2021, however my Ltd Co continued for an extra month after that while my accountant closed it down.

So it looks like this is why I have to complete a self assessment, as my Ltd Co overlapped into this tax year by around a month or so.

I go to complete the questions/tax return with HRMC online, and first question is asking why I need to fill in self self assessment, and asks something like "Did you still have a Ltd Co at this time", which I answer Yes.

I then get the next question which is "Did you work as an ‘off-payroll worker’? You’re an off-payroll worker (also sometimes called a contractor) if you provide services to a client through an intermediary such as: your own limited company" Yes/No

I haven't answered this as it made my tax-senses tingle slightly. Why are they asking that? What is the relevance?

Anyone had this?

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Lord Marylebone said:

I then get the next question which is "Did you work as an ‘off-payroll worker’? You’re an off-payroll worker (also sometimes called a contractor) if you provide services to a client through an intermediary such as: your own limited company" Yes/No

I haven't answered this as it made my tax-senses tingle slightly. Why are they asking that? What is the relevance?

Anyone had this?

Pretty sure this has been in the SA Questionnaire for years although I thought it asked if you ran a Personal Service Company rather than explicitly saying that.

You should check with your accountant, but I can't really see how you can honestly not answer "yes" to this.

[Regbuser]

Lord Marylebone said:

Looking for some advice please chaps!

As some of you know, I left Ltd Co contracting/consultancy almost 2 years ago now, due to being offered an attractive role as an employee.

I have just received a letter from HMRC bking me for not filing my self assessment tax return by the end of January, which is entirely my fault. New house, new child, busy at work. Too much happening.

I have just gone online to do the self-assessment, and they are asking about my tax circumstances for the year 6th April 2021 to 5th April 2022, and my last month as a contractor was April 2021, however my Ltd Co continued for an extra month after that while my accountant closed it down.

So it looks like this is why I have to complete a self assessment, as my Ltd Co overlapped into this tax year by around a month or so.

I go to complete the questions/tax return with HRMC online, and first question is asking why I need to fill in self self assessment, and asks something like "Did you still have a Ltd Co at this time", which I answer Yes.

I then get the next question which is "Did you work as an ‘off-payroll worker’? You’re an off-payroll worker (also sometimes called a contractor) if you provide services to a client through an intermediary such as: your own limited company" Yes/No

I haven't answered this as it made my tax-senses tingle slightly. Why are they asking that? What is the relevance?

Anyone had this?

Was that last month on a contract inside IR35? If so then answer yes.

Was that last month on a contract outside IR35? If so then answer no.

Edited by Regbuser on Wednesday 1st March 12:18

[Gad-Westy]

Regbuser said:

Lord Marylebone said:

Looking for some advice please chaps!

As some of you know, I left Ltd Co contracting/consultancy almost 2 years ago now, due to being offered an attractive role as an employee.

I have just received a letter from HMRC bking me for not filing my self assessment tax return by the end of January, which is entirely my fault. New house, new child, busy at work. Too much happening.

I have just gone online to do the self-assessment, and they are asking about my tax circumstances for the year 6th April 2021 to 5th April 2022, and my last month as a contractor was April 2021, however my Ltd Co continued for an extra month after that while my accountant closed it down.

So it looks like this is why I have to complete a self assessment, as my Ltd Co overlapped into this tax year by around a month or so.

I go to complete the questions/tax return with HRMC online, and first question is asking why I need to fill in self self assessment, and asks something like "Did you still have a Ltd Co at this time", which I answer Yes.

I then get the next question which is "Did you work as an ‘off-payroll worker’? You’re an off-payroll worker (also sometimes called a contractor) if you provide services to a client through an intermediary such as: your own limited company" Yes/No

I haven't answered this as it made my tax-senses tingle slightly. Why are they asking that? What is the relevance?

Anyone had this?

Was that last month on a contract inside IR35? If so then answer yes.

Was that last month on a contract outside IR35? If so then answer no.

Edited by Regbuser on Wednesday 1st March 12:18

The clarification on the question suggests that the answer could/should be yes in either scenario. This is what pisses me off with HMRC. The terminology that they use is far too heavy handed. A plumber provided a service to me last week through their limited company but would they be considered to be an 'off payroll worker'?

[anonymous-user]

For clarity, I will be handing this over to my accountant to consider, however I value the responses on this thread.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Gad-Westy said:

The clarification on the question suggests that the answer could/should be yes in either scenario. This is what pisses me off with HMRC. The terminology that they use is far too heavy handed. A plumber provided a service to me last week through their limited company but would they be considered to be an 'off payroll worker'?

HMRC have always had it in for Knowledge Workers as we don't fit within HMRC's definitions of trade / business / self-employment. And rather than updating the definitions (which is hard) they want to hammer the square pegs into the round holes until the pegs reach some semblance of cylindricity regardless of the damage caused.

So, basically, the plumber would probably not be considered "off payroll" because they're a plumber.

[Dr Jekyll]

So if as an employee as Global Megacorp PLC I get sent to Mrs Miggins pie shop to fix her computer system, am I an off payroll worker? I would be if I was employed by Jekyll LTD. What about if I worked through a umbrella company?

[Olivera]

Dr Jekyll said:

So if as an employee as Global Megacorp PLC I get sent to Mrs Miggins pie shop to fix her computer system, am I an off payroll worker? I would be if I was employed by Jekyll LTD. What about if I worked through a umbrella company?

Pretty straightforward answers there: no, yes only if caught by IR35, and no.

[Gad-Westy]

Olivera said:

Dr Jekyll said:

So if as an employee as Global Megacorp PLC I get sent to Mrs Miggins pie shop to fix her computer system, am I an off payroll worker? I would be if I was employed by Jekyll LTD. What about if I worked through a umbrella company?

Pretty straightforward answers there: no, yes only if caught by IR35, and no.

"Caught by IR35" Meaning inside?

But look again at HMRC's tax form definition....

"You’re an off-payroll worker (also sometimes called a contractor) if you provide services to a client through an intermediary such as: your own limited company"

No distinction between outside or inside there. You'd be providing a service to a client in ether case.

[wombleh]

When that first came out the consensus on contracting forums was to put "no" and treat it as a question of IR35 status.

My accountants advice was to put "yes" because it's just describing a limited company contractor.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

wombleh said:

When that first came out the consensus on contracting forums was to put "no" and treat it as a question of IR35 status.

My accountants advice was to put "yes" because it's just describing a limited company contractor.

Has the wording recently changed? Because I'm sure it used to be something benign like asking if you worked through a PSC