Accountants

[DaveB]

so come on then all you entrepaneurs?? send us the links to your website where you advertise your business ---- show us some adverts you have placed in trade mags and local rags ----- like a proper business

send us a scan of your business cards and other company staionary ----- show us your 'companies' training plan........

allegedly

I know I should'nt feed the troll but here goes anyway.

Website is currently being redone since the original homebrewed effort was crap. You can see it here if you really want to. Expect to see the URL in my sig as soon as the new one is ready

No paper advertising as yet, we are still trying to figure out if there is a market in smaller local businesses. National rate ad's are beyond the marketing budget at the moment. Ad-words are being set up with Google however, and we are tweaking the click values to balance costs against visibility at the moment.

Co. stationary and business cards have just had to be reordered to make sure they all have VAT number, registered address etc on them in line with the new legislation. Also applies to E-mails for those that havn't done it yet...

Training plan is confidential since it contains personal information but CISSP and CISA/CISM qualifications are all in the pipeline for the next financial year and budget has been allocated.

Anything else?

[malvolio]

thats fine yet how many contractors (thinking mainly about the huge rafts of help desk staff, coders, programmers, testers etc etc etc) who actually are inside IR35 but were hedging their bets hoping they would not get investigated and use a Ltd co purely for tax avoidance reasons and not because they actually wanted to be in business for themselves.

so come on then all you entrepaneurs?? send us the links to your website where you advertise your business ---- show us some adverts you have placed in trade mags and local rags ----- like a proper business

send us a scan of your business cards and other company staionary ----- show us your 'companies' training plan........

allegedly

Crap. You're arguing from the wrong end.

I do not want to be an employee - I did that for 25 years and got bored with working for less capable people. So I went freelance and I now sell my not inconsiderable skills on a temporary basis. I also just had a six month break, which is another reason not to have a "real" job.

But I have to work through agencies and other intermediaries (my clients, being mainly FTSE100s and HMG, tend not to buy resources from Yellow Pages or the corner shop) which means I have to have a LtdCo. But I don't want to employ a few hundred people or even get very much bigger than I already am, thanks very much, since I don't want the hassle. Doesn't mean I am not a totally legitimate UK business though.

And FWIW I have a company website and all the stationery I need, and I use them.

[simondolan]

Bit of a sweeping statement Simon ?
Care to offer any insurance against this ?

Sure - tax investigation insurance is quite cheap - around £75 a year.

Sweeping statement? Not really, considering the Budget.

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget...07_managed.cfm

In particular 4.4.

And this from the PCG:

"PCG expects that the changes will make it even more difficult for existing scheme providers to avoid the rules by giving their contractors “personal service companies”: PCG advises contractors currently with MSCs to use a limited company or a high quality umbrella, or else risk becoming part of a test case."

[mictech]

so come on then all you entrepaneurs?? send us the links to your website where you advertise your business ---- show us some adverts you have placed in trade mags and local rags ----- like a proper business

Why? Is it a requirement by law to have one.

Why? Should I go to the expenses of a website and advertising if I get all the work I can deal with, without such expenses.

[gingerjedi]

thats fine yet how many contractors (thinking mainly about the huge rafts of help desk staff, coders, programmers, testers etc etc etc) who actually are inside IR35 but were hedging their bets hoping they would not get investigated and use a Ltd co purely for tax avoidance reasons and not because they actually wanted to be in business for themselves.

so come on then all you entrepaneurs?? send us the links to your website where you advertise your business ---- show us some adverts you have placed in trade mags and local rags ----- like a proper business

send us a scan of your business cards and other company staionary ----- show us your 'companies' training plan........

allegedly

It sounds as if you have made a decision and now you just need to justify it to yourself, go with a brolly if you must, I couldn't care less.

[Bluebird]

Sure - tax investigation insurance is quite cheap - around £75 a year.

Sweeping statement? Not really, considering the Budget.

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget...07_managed.cfm

In particular 4.4.

And this from the PCG:

"PCG expects that the changes will make it even more difficult for existing scheme providers to avoid the rules by giving their contractors “personal service companies”: PCG advises contractors currently with MSCs to use a limited company or a high quality umbrella, or else risk becoming part of a test case."

I'm sure I read on PCG that it expects those moving from MSC to Ltd to be closely inspected - but then again perhaps I drempt it !

[THEPUMA]

Simon

I agree that the intention was not to catch PSC's but the only exemption in the legislation for a standard PSC is clause 61B (3) which says "A person does not fall within subsection (1)(d) merely by virtue of providing legal or accountancy services in a professional capacity.".

This is such a vague statement (who says Giant aren't accountants?), I called HMRC to clarify. I was told that if all the other criteria were satisfied, the company would be caught by the legislation. Which would mean that all PSC's were caught.

I've spoken to the PCG who are going to clarify with the Treasury. When they come back to me, I'll post an update.

I think we need to be very careful with this. Sometimes, legislation can be a sledgehammer to catch a nut and many innocent bystanders are caught in the crossfire.

Joel

[simondolan]

Simon

This is such a vague statement (who says Giant aren't accountants?), I called HMRC to clarify. I was told that if all the other criteria were satisfied, the company would be caught by the legislation. Which would mean that all PSC's were caught.

Joel

Sure, but the pertinent point is "if all the other criteria were satisfied".

All other criteria being, amongst others, control issues, so if the "scheme provider" had access and rights over the bank account then that Company would get caught by the MSC legislation.

We certainly don't, and nor have we ever been asked to administer a clients bank account. The legislation couldn't apply to "genuine" One Man Ltd Cos.

[THEPUMA]

There is nothing in the legislation regarding control.

edit: Control is referred to but it is control OR various other things. One of those other things is that the MSC provider "benefits financially on an ongoing basis from the provision of the services of the individual" and another is "influences or controls the way in which payments to the individual are made".

I don't think we can do our job properly if we don't influence the way payments are made.

[simondolan]

There is nothing in the legislation regarding control.

edit: Control is referred to but it is control OR various other things. One of those other things is that the MSC provider "benefits financially on an ongoing basis from the provision of the services of the individual" and another is "influences or controls the way in which payments to the individual are made".

I don't think we can do our job properly if we don't influence the way payments are made.

I see where you are coming from, but taken to its logical conclusion, it would be impossible for any Company that had an accountant not to be caught!