Help.... lost...tax....aaaagh contractor/permanent

[JonNorris@Crunch]

Engage an accountant asap

Emphasis on the ASAP, from the sounds of things.

[Intel]

Engage an accountant asap, you can't do this this on your own or ask random strangers on a forum.

Get this wrong and Hector (the Tax Inspector) will rip you a new arsehole.

Or alternatively, don't. It's always nice to have someone with their head higher above the parapet than mine where the tax man is concerned.....

Seriously though, get yourself and accountant. Any accountant worth their salt will save you more money each year through VAT FRS and tax planning than they cost.

[WordIsBond]

I'd disagree with most of the advice here. I'd say spend a couple days reading everything in the first timers guide and the other guides on the sidebar. THEN find an accountant. You are more likely to find an accountant you'll be happy with if you actually know a little bit of something about what you are doing and what you are looking for, what an accountant should cost, etc, etc, etc.

Then you'll have a much better idea of whether you want the responsibility of a Ltd co or whether you want to go umbrella. Which can be a big factor in choosing an accountant, too.

If you don't want to be bothered with educating yourself on running a contractor business, getting an accountant isn't going to solve your problems, and it is brollie for you.

[Crossroads]

Have to agree with the above. Get a grasp of the basics and use an accountant to confirm the key points and take care of the details.

Its scary how many long term contractors I speak to who have no idea whatsoever.

[SpontaneousOrder]

When i changed from permie to contracting I was in credit for the year, as far as tax/ni was concerned - based on my new salary.

So to keep it simple I just paid myself a couple of grand extra each month until the credit was small (looking at my tax dashboard on hmrc website), and then did a quick rough calculation to figure out how much my last month of the year should pay in salary in order to arrive just above a zero credit. I undershot by about 100 quid - so the additional tax was very little.

Obviously I could have just paid my new low salary and got a rebate, but I couldn't be arsed and enjoyed the extra cash.