When does a payment of fees become employment?

[Ossiantoad]

Say a church holds three services a week and it pays it speakers £60 a time. Over time one speaker (who is a full time employee elsewhere) becomes very regular and is speaking ten times or more a month. At what point does the church need to consider itself an employer of that person and start paying Employers NI etc?

[Ozzie Osmond]

Does/can the speaker do similar paid work for other people?

If so, he/she is very likely to be self-employed.

More on this link,
http://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/self-employed/a...

[Simpo Two]

Ossiantoad said:

Say a church holds three services a week and it pays it speakers £60 a time. Over time one speaker (who is a full time employee elsewhere) becomes very regular and is speaking ten times or more a month. At what point does the church need to consider itself an employer of that person and start paying Employers NI etc?

Employee at his full time job

Self-employed at his church job


The main different in this context IMHO is:

Employee gets paid net so doesn't have to worry about tax; he can trouser the lot.
Self-employed gets paid gross so HE has to worry about tax.

[Eric Mc]

The frequency or level of payment does not on its own determine whether someone should be treated as an employee or as a self-employed (i.e. trading) individual. The situation has to be reviewed "in the round".

HMRC provides this checklist which may or may not help -

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim20205....

[randlemarcus]

Churches paying speakers? Surely you should be doing it for the glory of your soul in Paradise, not making it tricky to get through the eye of a needle, or something? They'll be paying Council Tax before long...

[Eric Mc]

Man does not live on bread alone - but it helps.

[Ossiantoad]

Thanks chaps!