Limited co & pregnant girlfriend/employee

[Ardesco]

We generally say ask an accountant because we are not accountants. We could offer advice but if it is wrong and you act upon it what use would that be?

Maternity pay is a bit of a sticky issue, your girlfriend will have to be working for your company for a set amount of time to be legible and she will also need to earn a set amount of money to maximise the amount of SMP that you can claim.

Without knowing the exact numbers we would not be able to give you an accurate answer anyway and I'm sure you don't want to plaster your private finances all over the net.

Generally speaking we avoid talking to HMRC because it can get them interested in your business. If they don't know about you and you pay your taxes like a good boy and keep everything above board they will generally speaking ignore you. If you are constantly phoning their help lines and asking advice some smart cookie may decide you are a prime candidate for an aspect investigation because you don't seem to be too sure so you may well have messed up and not paid them as much tax as you could have.

An accountant is a perfect buffer. He will ensure your finances are laid out on the most beneficial way possible, he will deal with any enquires from the tax man and provide all the right answers (the wrong answers could open you up for all sorts of investigations even if you have done nothing wrong) and finally he will save you money and give you peace of mind.

If you want to do all of this by yourself that is your prerogative, however us telling you to go to your accountant and get a professionals opinion is probably the best advice you will get on this board.

[dude69]

I don't want to sound rude here but it's people like you who would leave this forum bare, why bother having this forum if all information ever requested is available through search engines/guides?... All I wanted was a quick answer from someone in the same predicament, but yes I found all the information myself on Google but didn't have an hour to read it from cover to cover. Thanks for your input all the same Dude69.

Jesus christ, you're such a rude little ingrate.

I was in the same situation as you when my wife was pregnant. Guess what I did, I READ the documents. Surprise surprise, tax and benefits laws are not simple.

I have just pointed you towards the EXACT page you need to read and you are not prepared to read it. The ANSWER IS THERE. That was the most informative post in this thread. Say thank you.

What is wrong with you?

Why the hell do you think anyone would want to spend an hour of their time summarising complex issues to do with months worked in qualifying periods, taxable pay, NI thresholds, minimum SMP amounts, CT implications, qualifying periods relative to due dates, rule-changeovers, when you aren't prepared to it yourself.

To get this clear:

* you are not prepared to pay an accountant for advice on complex matters of taxation for which the penalties for mistake (Corporate taxation) are invariably severe
* despite not having any qualified counsel, you are not prepared to spend ANY AMOUNT of your time reading authoritative sources that only require you to sit on your lazy backside and read and comprehend (and if you don't understand, GET A CLUE AND PAY SOMEONE WHO DOES FFS), and you expect someone else to do it for you.

You should NOT rely on the word of other people that are not qualified. It is expensive, because they are often WRONG. And no, you cannot sue when 'dude69's' advice turns out to be faulty.

And just btw, if you weren't such a bone-idle timewaster, you could have found that I answered your question in 2006.

And if you had the courtesy to search first, you could have posted in that thread if there were any questions there - as another user did (possessed of rather more sense than you), only last month, bumping the thread, and adding to the discussion.

This forum would NOT be empty, it would be more useful, because instead of a whole set of posts on the same subject, in which increasingly weary people tire of posting the same answer provide less and less useful responses, there would be one USEFUL thread providing you with the information you seek.

But since you are clearly clueless, I doubt that you would ever read it.

[chris79]

Get a grip, like I said I didn't have an hour to read back to back and potentially waste that hour, so I asked a simple question which warranted a simple answer. Most people answered that by recommending an accountant, advice which I've weighed up and took on-board. There is no law however stating that I cannot should I choose to do so, do this myself, this is my choice, not your opinion.

I took objection to you telling me to read before posting, who are you - the forum police/judge/jury?? I don't share your view that everything to do with running a business is so complex I should not attempt it myself, nor should that stop me asking my own questions here on contractoruk. Like I stated earlier if you feel you are above and beyond the questions being asked from the likes of myself, feel free to bugger off elsewhere or recruit your own elite types and discuss the inner workings of the Treasury with them in private.

[chris79]

p.s. I'm clearly less clueless than you since you use an accountant and I don't - work that one out.

p.p.s I didn't come here looking for a forum flame war, that's childish, so let's agree to not discuss things with each other from this point forward, it's embarrassing to say the least. Thank you.

[dude69]

p.s. I'm clearly less clueless than you since you use an accountant and I don't - work that one out.

You what?

You clearly are uninformed about accountancy matters, and to make things worse, too arrogant and lazy to get informed.

And despite three pages of people telling you that the issues are complex, you still insist that you asked a simple question.

And then you insist that despite not knowing what you are doing in accountancy matters, refusing to find out, and that despite the high risks involved with getting things wrong, not hiring someone who IS competent makes you smart somehow.

And finally, just to reinforce your foolishness, despite me quite clearly saying that "I was in the same situation as you", and that "I READ the documents", something you wouldn't need to do if you were paying for professional advice, you somehow got the idea that I pay accountancy fees.

p.p.s I didn't come here looking for a forum flame war, that's childish, so let's agree to not discuss things with each other from this point forward, it's embarrassing to say the least. Thank you.

As they say, you can lead a donkey to water, but you can't make him drink.

Seriously, you need to get a clue, and I don't say that to score points, but because you are potentially costing yourself a lot of money, and I wouldn't wish that on you.

[chris79]

I won't carry on this tit-for-tat bs, I'll make my own decisions but thanks for your concern.

[Sockpuppet]

p.s. I'm clearly less clueless than you since you use an accountant and I don't - work that one out.

Who's the one with a girlfriend up the spout?

*joke* but I shall await ferrets size twelve