Limited company or Umbrella

[NooBHA]

I pay £24 p/w £1248 p/a. Are you an accountant by any chance?



CT is 20 % of your yearly profit, as a contractor i had no real outgoings only salary/dividends so my profit was of course high hence the high CT. Now i don't claim to know a lot about it all worked, that was what my accountant (Tax Assist) told me. I got lost in it all and found it complicated so went down the Umbrella path.

Yes around £1200 plus VAT is about right for the Brighton area - In answer to your other question YES I'm Tax Accountant/ Tax Lawyer/ Ex HMRC ''Black Economy'' Tax Inspector

 

[Seagull over NZ]

The other thing to think about is the changes that will come about in April 16. The good old chancellor has made it less attractive to do this through a Ltd company in that dividends that used to have no further tax attached to them (if you were a basic rate tax payer) now will have once you pay more than £5k in dividends. So the advantages of going through a Ltd company rather than self employed have reduced somewhat making the extra admin of running a company a barrier to some. You have to weigh up whether you can get other benefits like a partner or family member who doesn't use their personal allowance employed by the company etc to start seeing more benefits through a Ltd company.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I pay £24 p/w £1248 p/a. Are you an accountant by any chance?



CT is 20 % of your yearly profit, as a contractor i had no real outgoings only salary/dividends so my profit was of course high hence the high CT.

Couldn't you have stuffed most of your profit (up to the allowable limit) into a limited company pension plan so you get to retain the money and cash it in somewhere down the line? Far better than paying CT on a big sum I'd have thought.

 

[NooBHA]

Couldn't you have stuffed most of your profit (up to the allowable limit) into a limited company pension plan so you get to retain the money and cash it in somewhere down the line? Far better than paying CT on a big sum I'd have thought.

You need to have a profit chargeable to tax otherwise you cant draw down dividends, so really if you need to get a decent amount of funds out of the company to live on per annum you need to have a decent level of profit chargeable to tax.

The only other alternative would be to draw it out in the form of salary and that sort of defeats the purpose of the inception of the company in the first place

 

[jgmcdee]

Has anyone used ClearSky if they're looking at contracting as a limited company?

 

[Pavilionaire]

I'm limited.

and I pay my accountant about £250 pa to sort things out for me.

So £250 p.a. for accounts, corporation tax, registered office, payroll, bookkeeping AND personal tax??

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

You need to have a profit chargeable to tax otherwise you cant draw down dividends, so really if you need to get a decent amount of funds out of the company to live on per annum you need to have a decent level of profit chargeable to tax.

The only other alternative would be to draw it out in the form of salary and that sort of defeats the purpose of the inception of the company in the first place

Ah, right, fair point, randomly made, tho your post #24 quoting my post about company pensions never even mentions company pensions.

 

[kingcole]

A good accountant will save you far more that their fees.

Give Mark Carter a call at Friend James. Great bloke and talks in a non-accountancy kinda way. Also a large respected firm in Brighton.

 

[NooBHA]

Ah, right, fair point, randomly made, tho your post #24 quoting my post about company pensions never even mentions company pensions.

I didn't feel the need to quote company pensions or say anything negative or positive about your post in that regard. It is is a decent and well balanced form of tax planing you made but as my post stated, you do need a decent profit to take decent drawings annually from the company

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I use Carpenter Box in Worthing - very good service. Limited Company.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

Recommend Trafalgar . Steer clear of Paystream. Limited company will mean you have to obtain PI and EL Insurance.

 

[NooBHA]

Recommend Trafalgar . Steer clear of Paystream. Limited company will mean you have to obtain PI and EL Insurance.

As I said in another post. All the Umbrella companies rarely go beyond 24 months and then close down and open under a new name. That's because HMRC are constantly looking to Investigate them.

Some of my former colleagues who are FT Grade 6 or Grade 7 Inspectors at HMRC have told me numerous times that they just can't catch up with the Umbrella companies because they don't stay in business long enough, so it tends toi be the individuals which use them who tend to pay the price for the methods they use.

Many of them use the system or something similar to it which Rangers Football Club tried to use. Now obviously Rangers Football club was static and easy to find. These Umbrella companies are mobile and difficult to track down.

Any that HMRC do track down, if they they get hold of their record keeping, it won't be the Umbrella Company themselves that get prosecuted because they just move on and close down before Investigations get any further forward. It will be the individuals who used them that HMRC chase the shortfall in tax from because they are easier to track down.

 

[Gordon Bennett]

I'm in a similar position as [MENTION=20799]Randsta[/MENTION]. I've just got a new contract through a different agency and they will only use certain, approved, umbrella companies, and of course the umbrella company I currently use isn't on their list! So, I'm thinking now might be the time to investigate setting up a limited company. Really need an accountant/advisor to spoon-feed me through the whole process. Looking at this thread there are a couple of votes for Crunch so might give them a call but just wondering if there any others recommendations out there for accountants/advisors in the Brighton/Hove/Mid Sussex area?

 

[Soulman]

I'm in a similar position as [MENTION=20799]Randsta[/MENTION]. I've just got a new contract through a different agency and they will only use certain, approved, umbrella companies, and of course the umbrella company I currently use isn't on their list! So, I'm thinking now might be the time to investigate setting up a limited company. Really need an accountant/advisor to spoon-feed me through the whole process. Looking at this thread there are a couple of votes for Crunch so might give them a call but just wondering if there any others recommendations out there for accountants/advisors in the Brighton/Hove/Mid Sussex area?

Over 20 years ago i went self employed as my industry stopped taking on the cards. I was 714 self employed and payed my own tax using an accountant (BHA ST holder.
Then that became difficult so i have been CIS for years. Now these leech Umbrella companies have appeared and so i paid £12-99 to set up my own company through company houses (easy took 10mins) i have received a UTR number from the tax office and will just get a business account from the bank. My accountant will sort out the books as he has been doing since 1992.
I hate these Umbrella Companies because those on my jobs, on them instead of CIS are about £70 a week (net) worse off. Seeing jobs state Umbrella or LTD only i have back heeled a few jobs because i will not go on Umbrella.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Have been Ltd for almost 10 years - defo look at VAT reg o the flat rate scheme as this should cover your account fees on their own.
Always thought umbrella's were bad news ...

 

[HalfaSeatOn]

I've got a 3 month it contract, may go back in to permanent after it - not sure. I normally get 3 quotes. Pay-sure and trafalgar have been mentioned for umbrella companies. Anyone got a 3rd they've used successfully. Thanks.

 

[Gordon Bennett]

I've got a 3 month it contract, may go back in to permanent after it - not sure. I normally get 3 quotes. Pay-sure and trafalgar have been mentioned for umbrella companies. Anyone got a 3rd they've used successfully. Thanks.

I used these people for just over a year: http://www.champion-contractors.co.uk/index.htm

No idea how they compare with other companies as they are the only umbrella company I've used. I spoke to them when I signed up and they seemed okay. I used them for just over a year without any particular problems apart from one payslip which went astray. They were 'recommended' by the agency who found me my original assignment.

 

[Soulman]

Umbrella companies are not meant to be used for skilled operatives, they were meant to benefit those on minimum wage or slightly above.Instead they rob the employee.
Leeches, should have been banned ages ago.

 

[Brighton Mod]

With imminent changes arriving from April on what a contractor through an Umbrella Company can and can't claim against tax, I would have thought the flexiibilty of a Ltd Company would be the better choice. It means that you will have to be disciplined enough to keep your own records and log them regularly. The government clearly sees Umbrella Companies as a target, taking the view that they remove people from PAYE and thus with draw them from paying weekly tax.. Its a slow attritional grinde, but legislation against umbrellas happens every year now.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Umbrella companies are not meant to be used for skilled operatives, they were meant to benefit those on minimum wage or slightly above.Instead they rob the employee.
Leeches, should have been banned ages ago.

Umbrella companies also seem to exist to remove job agencies from their PAYE accountancy duties.