TekSystems (Allegis Group] - Beware!

[Milkyway]

It could be that the agency are requesting this information in order to be compliant under the letter of the law http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2...0150171_en.pdf. The reporting requirements ask the employment intermediary to retain information to evidence the reports that they make to HMRC for a period of 3 years. If a payment is made to a company, rather than an individual, it could be that the company named is acting as part of a sham arrangement which could ultimately lead to tax avoidance. By asking the question 'do you draw dividends from the company' this evidences the fact that you are a Director and Shareholder of the company in question and not using some sort of complex tax avoidance scheme.

It may seem like overkill but I know this agency well and they are sticklers for compliance - no bad thing surely

They are not just asking whether you draw dividends.
They are also asking " and if so, when are you planning to receive dividends"

And you think this is sticking to some law?
Ridiculous.

What should one reply to this question anyway?

Do we list all possible future days for the next X years when we will be drawing dividends on, and what happens if we change our mind, say, in the next month, where one takes dividends in a different date.

Looking at their questions, if the contractor changes his mind to change the date of dividend payment in future, they will need to tell TekSystems every time they take a dividend in a different date to the one they submitted as reply.

Does it look like an independent company OLC anymore.
To me it sounds like the agency is now controlling the OLC completely

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

By confirming that I'm a director and shareholder, I've already confirmed that, well, I'm a director and shareholder.

True But you could still be both and paying yourself PAYE if inside IR35

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

They are not just asking whether you draw dividends.
They are also asking " and if so, when are you planning to receive dividends"

And you think this is sticking to some law?
Ridiculous.

What should one reply to this question anyway?

Do we list all possible future days for the next X years when we will be drawing dividends on, and what happens if we change our mind, say, in the next month, where one takes dividends in a different date.

Looking at their questions, if the contractor changes his mind to change the date of dividend payment in future, they will need to tell TekSystems every time they take a dividend in a different date to the one they submitted as reply.

Does it look like an independent company OLC anymore.
To me it sounds like the agency is now controlling the OLC completely

If you're not happy answering that part of the question then don't answer it What is your concern with providing this information? Do you think it will be to your detriment in some way? Am not saying you should or shouldn't answer the questions - just wondered what your concerns are

[Milkyway]

If you're not happy answering that part of the question then don't answer it What is your concern with providing this information? Do you think it will be to your detriment in some way? Am not saying you should or shouldn't answer the questions - just wondered what your concerns are

I thought you said they were asking this because they do these things to the letter of the law , now it looks like you are saying these are optional questions so we can skip

Anyway, my concern is not that these are something detriment to me etc.
I have said what my concerns would be. You have not bothered to read that bit.

It is the fact that i have to tell them some dates of when i will be taking my dividends, and if I change that decision later on (which i am fully entitled to), I will need to tell TekSystems every month if i change a date of my dividend payment vis-a-vis what i would have declared to them earlier on.

Does this not sound to you as inconvenient and absolutely absurd?????

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

I thought you said they were asking this because they do these things to the letter of the law , now it looks like you are saying these are optional questions so we can skip

Anyway, my concern is not that these are something detriment to me etc.
I have said what my concerns would be. You have not bothered to read that bit.

It is the fact that i have to tell them some dates of when i will be taking my dividends, and if I change that decision later on (which i am fully entitled to), I will need to tell TekSystems every month if i change a date of my dividend payment vis-a-vis what i would have declared to them earlier on.

Does this not sound to you as inconvenient and absolutely absurd?????

Firstly - chill out. Secondly - the question of whether or not you will draw dividends is sticking to the letter of the law and it could be argued that asking when falls within that but you don't have to say anything more than in which financial year you are intending to take them - you don't have to say every second Tuesday and then report in if you change your mind to every second Wednesday. To be honest a lot of what the Government requires from our industry seems inconvenient and absurd and all of it is open to interpretation with the appropriate mine fields built it. With this in mind you will find that different agencies and umbrella companies and accountancy firms and even end clients will have different requirements with regard to compliance - it depends on how they and their lawyers interpret legislation (HMRC guidance is rarely clear).

[LondonManc]

True But you could still be both and paying yourself PAYE if inside IR35

And that's the whole game of cat and mouse, isn't it?

[whattheheck]

They are not just asking whether you draw dividends.
They are also asking " and if so, when are you planning to receive dividends"
And you think this is sticking to some law?
Ridiculous.
What should one reply to this question anyway?
Do we list all possible future days for the next X years when we will be drawing dividends on, and what happens if we change our mind, say, in the next month, where one takes dividends in a different date.
Looking at their questions, if the contractor changes his mind to change the date of dividend payment in future, they will need to tell TekSystems every time they take a dividend in a different date to the one they submitted as reply.
Does it look like an independent company OLC anymore.
To me it sounds like the agency is now controlling the OLC completely

Which is precisely my view. I have nothing to hide, but that does not mean I am willing to comply with blatant intrusion and attempt to completely seize upon the contractor and/or the OLC and control both in a rather abusive manner.

Here is the issue: If contractors allow the intrusive control to continue, where will it stop?... Nowhere. A lot of people across all walks of life get away with murder, because the others allow them to do so. Which is to say, that saying a sound and round "NO" in the most assertive terms is in my view better practice.

I note that the Questionnaire even attempts to control how the OLC operates its bank accounts by trying to prohibit the OLC from instructing the Accountant to transfer funds to other accounts, for example. This is out of order because there are no requirements in Law to oblige any Ltd Co [OLC or otherwise], to comply with orders from another Ltc Co on how to operate its finances. It's just none of their bloody business, really.

Someone earlier said that all companies are free to engage or not... And they may be free to ask whatever they like... Well, yes and no. If they ask for stuff they are not entitled to get or influence, then they are at best engaging into malpractice and may be reported to the relevant authorities for doing so.

DPA is a case in point. Please provide all the personal details, postal address and phone number and email addresses of all legal advisors, or accountants, or other shareholders, or whatever... What's going on? I can't! I can't and I will NOT disclose third parties details to them or anybody else! Full stop!

I think what is going on with Teksystems/Allegis Group is just not right.

[LondonManc]

If it has to be answered, then "whenever deemed appropriate by the shareholders" seems an IR-35 safe answer.

[whattheheck]

If you're not happy answering that part of the question then don't answer it What is your concern with providing this information? Do you think it will be to your detriment in some way? Am not saying you should or shouldn't answer the questions - just wondered what your concerns are

The E-questionnaire is specifically designed to enforce ALL the questions, confirmations and statements in the online forms. Moreover, it is cleverly designed so the answer has to be YES or NO and when NO, you are immediately required to fill in the details in another field, which is also mandatory. You can't skip any questions and if you tried to copy paste the contents, forget it as it won't allow you to do that. I have a full copy of the questionnaire because I did snapshots of all the screens, otherwise not only the questionnaire is highly intrusive, I would have no evidence in my records to show.

All these practices are highly questionable.

The internal decision-making processes in regards to a lot of things, such as dividend decisions, or salary payments or how funds received are banked, are inner workings of a Ltd Company. The same applies to other details, such as those falling under jurisdiction of the DPA 1998 for example. I would be liable to get into trouble by passing private and personal details of third parties/persons to an organisation [Teksystems/Allegis Group or any other for that matter].
That questionnaire is a mine-field and if Teksystems decided to make you life hell over a point of detail, you would be liable and on top of it probably not covered by the business insurance, because the insurance could very well argue that you did not seek advice before signing the damn online form. And you land in the boiling hot water pot instantly.

[borderreiver]

Any data available via Companies House - just tell them to go look there. If they want to offload their admin to you because they CBA to look, you should be charging them for your time.

Anything else not required by law - tell them it's company confidential and off-limits.