Typical hourly rates for spouse as limited company admin

[ruasonid]

Spouse is doing 6 hours/week admin work, including accounts, maintaining my profile on job boards, etc. and also research. Spouse is not a company secretary or director so I want to pay an hourly rate. Can't find any guidance on this but I'm guessing its worth more than NMW. Are there any pointers to a fair market rate?

[d000hg]

£10-15?

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I pay my wife an annual salary of £2400 although that also covers her responsibilities as company secretary. There are some on here that believe you should charge right up to the personal allowance if your spouse is company secretary/director but personally I believe that's pushing your luck.

Is there a reason why you want to pay her an hourly rate rather than a reasonable basic salary? I'd be very surprised I HMRC were to challenge a relatively low figure and it seems easier to manage (no time tracking necessary).

If you want to pay a reasonable market rate and nothing more, then can't you just go on some job websites and look up some similar jobs in your area? Find three, take an average and use that. As I said, the chances of HMRC querying it are slim but you'll have some evidence to back up your rates, if that's what you're worried about.

I'm assuming your spouse has some personal allowance left to use?

[ruasonid]

Spouse has full allowance. I was thinking of something around £12/hr which would equate to £3500/pa and pay it monthly. Practically, some weeks would be more hours, some less, but on average 6 hours a week. I don't see it falling below that. Would timesheets be necessary?

[Craig at Nixon Williams]

Spouse is doing 6 hours/week admin work, including accounts, maintaining my profile on job boards, etc. and also research. Spouse is not a company secretary or director so I want to pay an hourly rate. Can't find any guidance on this but I'm guessing its worth more than NMW. Are there any pointers to a fair market rate?

What would you pay to a third party who was totally unrelated to you to complete work of this nature? That's the market rate..

Craig

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Would timesheets be necessary?

Would you expect time sheets if you were employing somebody else and paying them an hourly rate? How else would you keep track of what you need to pay them?

I'd still establish a reasonable annual salary based on an average market rate and average hours and pay a fixed monthly wage rather than faffing around with paying by the hour.

I'm sure you know this, but remember you'll need to operate payroll whichever way you do it.

[ruasonid]

What would you pay to a third party who was totally unrelated to you to complete work of this nature? That's the market rate..

Craig

For someone with the required mix of skills I'd say £12-£15 per hour. A Company Secretary proper, i.e. a person employed specifically and exclusively for that role appears to cost £19.62 per hour on average. This rate is trickier to determine as it relies on a mix of skills, not to mention trust. On that latter point, I feel more comfortable with my spouse (who was a company secretary previously, and has bi-lingual skills which I'll be making limited use of). Where this is going is I will probably appoint my spouse as company secretary in future, and, as with most small limited co's, would not employ a third-party in that role.

[ruasonid]

Would you expect time sheets if you were employing somebody else and paying them an hourly rate? How else would you keep track of what you need to pay them?

I'd still establish a reasonable annual salary based on an average market rate and average hours and pay a fixed monthly wage rather than faffing around with paying by the hour.

I'm sure you know this, but remember you'll need to operate payroll whichever way you do it.

I'll do it that way, just need to establish the rate and calculate the annual/monthly.

[northernladuk]

What does your accountant say?

[ruasonid]

What does your accountant say?

He's on holiday! Thought I'd sound out replies here until he gets back to me.

I think it comes down to what can be justified for the work done, and some evidence of the work is necessary for that purpose. Research is tricky, because a lot is done online and there's often little to show for it.