Experience with ITECS?

[avamaria]

nothing improves

I can't believe this kind of thing is still going on. How is it that these companies still exist advertising compliant solutions when eventually it turns out they are anything but? Of course , it is always the contractor that gets hit with the responsibility. It has been going on for 15 years that I know of so why aren't these companies investigated? What I would do I suppose is , to ask the companies for the name of their accountants/advisors and check the scheme out with them and maybe another local accountant.

[pambib]

Any recent ITECS experiences?

As this conversation sort of drops off from 2009, I'd like to ask.....does anyone have any experience of ITECS over the last year or so, in NL?

I am looking at signing up with them and this seems to be the major thread discussing them but, as I state, it seems to be a little out of date.

Thanks.

[Boo]

You are not allowed to in Belgium.

The expected nonsense from SE who works for an Umbrella and so is completely unbiased

It is perfectly legal to work in Belgium through your own UK Ltd Co. I did that for a year with the blessing of a Belgian accountant. For the first 183 days there is simply no issue, EU law expressly permits this and overrides any national law that contradicts it.

After 183 days it gets tricky. If you rent/own a flat or house in Belgium then you are tax resident there and all your world-wide income is taxed as Belgian. V expensive and you really don't want to do that. Otherwise if you are sensible and take B&B / hotel accommodation then you may escape your company having its seat deemed to be in Belgium. That will depend on all sorts of things like where your car is registered, how many days you spend in Belgium etc etc.

The fact is though, if you stay in a B&B and consequentially do not register at the local commune then you will not receive a Belgian tax form. Under these circumstances it would be down to you to determine how/whether the 183 day rule should be applied and you could most likely work through your UK Ltd Co. for the duration.

You should ignore anything the temptingly named BlasterBates says - he has so persistently misrepresented the situation wrt working in Belgium that I can only assume he, like SE, works for an Umbrella or an agency with a vested interest in one. Appologies if this is slander but...

Boo

[Boo]

I can't believe this kind of thing is still going on. How is it that these companies still exist advertising compliant solutions when eventually it turns out they are anything but? Of course , it is always the contractor that gets hit with the responsibility.

What happens is that companies like ManCos operate 3 sets of accounts in parallel :

1. Is intended for the contractor. This shows lots of deductions and is intended to give said contractor a warm and fuzzy feeling. Of course the contractor never appoints an independent expert to investigate on their behalf and would find the service terminated in quick order if they did.
2. Is intended for the legal system in the juristiction of operation. It is designed to show that all dividends payed to the ManCo directors are legal within whatever juristiction can most favourably be made to apply. The contractor will never know anything about this set of accounts and neither will any tax authority. These accounts are strictly for emergency use and will only ever be used by the ManCo directors as a defence against imprisonment for embezzlement.
3. This last set is intended for the tax authorities in the country the contractor is working. It finger points to the contractor to the maximum possible extent. It will show the contractor as not having paid any tax at all, only ManCo fees. These accounts will be "played" if the ManCo is ever asked about the contractor by the tax authorities. The contract between contractor and ManCo is a contract for services, the sums involved are the lowest possible after fake "dividends", "witholdings" etc etc. If investigated the ManCo may accept the lightest slap on the wrist whilst dropping the contractor in deepest taxation doodoo.

You will see there is no set of accounts which has a true statement of what the ManCo has withheld from the contractor on behalf of the tax authorities. This is not an accidental omission, there is no such set of accounts. That is why people find it so hard to obtain their payment and details of their actual witholdings from the ManCos, especially after a change of directors. The new directors of the ManCo inheirited the accounts marked 3. above, no others and the true situation cannot be discovered from these accounts.

If you don't believe this then trawl these forums for what happens when a tax authority "takes an interest" in a ManCo. Tales like contractors being called in for meeting with a manager from their client, a representative of the ManCo and a silent 3rd party, unknown. A full and frank conversation ensues about the methods and amounts of payments made. On ending the shadowy third party turns out to be the Taxman.

Be aware that ManCos are not intended to benefit the contractor, they are intended to benefit the directors of the ManCo and no-one else.

There are many people who post to these forums who work for agencies and umbrella companies etc. You need to take everything thay say with a cellar full of salt. It is very much in the interests of such people that they continue to receive their commission and kickbacks. They will pay no particular regard to the truth when they come to advise you and will kick up as much fud as they can.

To sum up : don't use a ManCo, they are thieves.

Boo

[cojak]

A little harsh Boo as that post was 4 years old. SE and BB may have different opinion's now following their experiences.

No one should rely on information that old.

[Boo]

A little harsh Boo as that post was 4 years old. SE and BB may have different opinion's now following their experiences.

No one should rely on information that old.

OK Cojak, I did miss the fact that post I replied to stating

You are not allowed to in Belgium

was from 2008

But in fairness both SE and BB have posted very similar misinformation much more recently, and it was that which I had in mind.

Boo

[Boris]

As this conversation sort of drops off from 2009, I'd like to ask.....does anyone have any experience of ITECS over the last year or so, in NL?

I am looking at signing up with them and this seems to be the major thread discussing them but, as I state, it seems to be a little out of date.

Thanks.

If you are in NL I recommend using Source BV (Source). They arranged my '30% ruling' with the tax authorities, looked after my tax, social security and so on for several years, paid on time and kept the administration overhead to a minimum.

Boris

[MikeEdin]

a 'merry-go-round' of names ... but chaos delivered slowly

I've just started contracting through ITECS. My initial experience has been very poor, with more than one issue remaining unresolved.

* income statements: appearing late
* dividend report: appearing not at all, thus far!
* income credited to my UK bank account: the wrong amount (too low) ... or could it be the dividend?
* dividend: no payment received
* No transaction reference numbers provided to confirm international bank transfers

The impression given is that folks there may be overloaded - possibly due to doing everying more than once. ITECS, why not just do it right the 1st time?!

[diamondnostril]

anti-ITECS

I worked with ITECS in Germany between 2009 and Q1 2012 . . . after a couple of years of not-brilliant-but-adequate service, things deteriorated completely. Since the middle of 2011 they have IGNORED all my requests to get money via the EBT . . . in 2012 they have IGNORED my repeated requests to pay my 2011 tax bill . . . they have completely left me in the lurch regarding this very large tax bill, and ignore all communication asking them to explain why this is happening. I just registered with this forum specifically to give my recommendation: Stay well away from ITECS!

[jeaglesh]

Is anyone currently with ITECS?

If so, what is your experience, positive? negative?

Would you recomend them for contracting in Europe?

I would certainly not recommend them. I was with them for 18 months and I would advise you do not get involved with them.