self-employment rates ?

[davydunt]

help again please .

i will be going self-employed and working for an alarm company 40 hours a week in the new year. i have worked for this company before and i was getting something like £410ish not sure, but it defnetly was £320 home per week.

so now i need to know what to ask per hour / week, now that i will be managing my own income.

a van with diesel & mobile phone will be provided by the company. i have 10 years experience in my line of work and would describe myself as a skilled hard worker but always learning.

so whats the going rate ? and what do i need to watch out for ?

 

[Thermo]

you need to watch out for the taxman. if they judge you to be working for them as an employee rather than a sub contractor then they will clobber you and the employer for the back tax ni etc.

 

[gas4you]

As thermo says, with them supplying a van, diesel, mobile phone, work and 40 hours per week you can call it what you like, but the taxman will class you as employed by them under their new rules.

 

[davydunt]

i see, might have to knock that idea on the head then. if will get me in trouble, i have other work in the pipe line from private customers the company work was just to keep a steady income, as things have slowed up in this area big time.

 

[JohnD]

you could ask for part-time work, but it is usual for employers to forbid workers from competing in the same trade in their own time.

 

[saxondale]

can you not do it with your own van and tools?


davy ask the same question on www.thesecurityinstaller.co.uk theres a lot more trade members with exactly the advice you need.

 

[davydunt]

i will be using there van & tools from 9-5pm Monday to Friday. but i will also be using my own van+diesel+tools+phone+shock quite a bit out of hours, thanks for the link saxondale IL have a wee look around.

 

[Thermo]

doesnt matter whose tools you are using. if you are billing them as a sub contractor week in week out as they are your main employment 99% of the time the taxman will basically say you are employed by them and treat you and the company as such.

 

[saxondale]

doesnt matter whose tools you are using. if you are billing them as a sub contractor week in week out as they are your main employment 99% of the time the taxman will basically say you are employed by them and treat you and the company as such.

luckily the alarm trade has/had CIS exemption - only takes 2 (two) self invoiced jobs a month to keep the taxman off your back

 

[Thermo]

cis doesnt come into it. they can look at how much work they do with you and can draw whatever conclusion they like.

Also if you are going self employed with him, then i your not going to get holidays, bank holidays etc paid by him, therefore your rate will have to be higher to cover such things

 

[DESL]

The only way I got round IR rules IR35 was become a Ltd Co to do long term contract work.

I wouldn't advise this unless you get a second year contract.

As for calculating rates of pay you need to see what the competition are charging as starting point.

You need to factor all these in as either fixed or variable costs

Advertising
Electricity
General Administration
Motor vehicle running
Telephone
Mobile
Insurance PL
Insurance personal sick&acc
Equipment
Training
Accomodation
PC
Tax
NI class 1 and 4

Fixed costs will be all those payments you have to make even if not working - variable will proportional to the turnover.

I suggest you make an appointment to see a self employed adviser at your local tax office - I found them very helpful - unlike urban myths they are there to help you claim all your entitlements.

 

[Thermo]

spot on, especially the tax man, work with them and they will be very helpful, thye play by the rules and are very reasonable and fair. its up to you which side of them you go.

 

[davydunt]

sounds good ! the last thing i want to do is the in trouble with the taxman. nobody can predict the future but this is a solid company and id say a second year contract would be highly likely.

i took a head stagger 2 months ago and left my old company of near ten years to do my own thing, but due to new family on the way & a slow down, i would like to have a steady income from my old company again. also to do my evening/weekend work legit and above board "not like the old cash up front & no paper work" that would have happened in the past.

this information has been priceless ! thanks !

 

[gas4you]

I also have found the Tax man and the VAT man very helpful so far. I attended all their seminars when I first went on my own and it was at the VAT evening that the VAT inspector advised me to change my accountant as there was a lot more I could claim back than the one I had then said was possible to do

I have found that they just want your books accurate and correct, they don't want to take anything off you they are not entitled to, as much as they expect you to pay all that you should.

 

[saxondale]

cis doesnt come into it. they can look at how much work they do with you and can draw whatever conclusion they like.

Also if you are going self employed with him, then i your not going to get holidays, bank holidays etc paid by him, therefore your rate will have to be higher to cover such things

just for once I DO know what I`m on about ( selfemployed alarm engineer working daily for a third party ) I used the CIS as an example of the tax breaks we get as a trade.

Min. 2 jobs per month for yourself

own tools and van

own consumables

own supervision on site

not a lot more to it other than re quote the guy occasionaly and don`t forget to put your tax away when you get paid