Been offered contractor position in Middle East

[Fred Bloggs]

If you need the NI qualifying years for a state pension you can pay (fairly low, is it called class 4?) voluntary NI payments to maintain your record. I have enough years to qualify for state pension so I do not need to do that for a state pension other than S2P. IR35 will be irrelevant, it is you who will be employed, not the Ltd Co.

[Hex]

I have a draft contract, but can't for the life of me figure out if it is IR35. It clearly says I am a contractor and I can only get paid for work I do in the UAE. But then it says things like I am controlled by the client!

Anyone recommend a good lawyer/accountant to review the contract and give me solid advice on whether the contract will be in/out of IR35? Thanks!

Try:

Bauer and Cottrell (http://www.bauerandcottrell.co.uk/)
Roger Sinclair of egos (www.egos.co.uk)

[Bengal]

If the contract is between the client and you personally, then IR35 is NOT in point and nothing to worry about in this regard.

Where the contractual arrangement is between the individual and the client then you need onoly concern yourself with the usual employed vs self-employed issues.

In this case as the client is overseas it will be difficult for HMRC to take the view that your relationshiop with the client is really an employment relationship. If, however, HMRC do take that view and are successful, then they would need to chase your client which they cannot do as client is not a UK resident. This, however, can leave it open to HMRC to seek PAYE from you but it is very unlikely that they will do this - too much trouble.

[BlasterBates]

I agree Ir35 is a non-issue, they have to take your word for it.

But the point is you need to take advice as to how to tax your income. I would see an accountant to discuss the different ways. It is worth paying 100 quid to do this. Do you setup a company, tax the money as personal income or stay out the country for 12 months?

You won´t get an answer here.

[Bengal]

I agree Ir35 is a non-issue, they have to take your word for it.

But the point is you need to take advice as to how to tax your income. I would see an accountant to discuss the different ways. It is worth paying 100 quid to do this. Do you setup a company, tax the money as personal income or stay out the country for 12 months?

You won´t get an answer here.

I'll second BB's comments, sound advice mate...........

[AlanDavis]

If the contract is between the client and you personally, then IR35 is NOT in point and nothing to worry about in this regard.

Where the contractual arrangement is between the individual and the client then you need onoly concern yourself with the usual employed vs self-employed issues.

Thanks for replying. I don't actually understand the difference between the two - sorry...

For more info, the contract is between me and a middle east consulting company. The consulting company has a contract with the client and the client is invisible to the contract between me and the consulting company.

Further, since I can only charge days I work in the middle east and I will be coming back to the UK as I see necessary (although the contract with the consulting company says they decide, this is not really the case - its there to stop people taking the proverbial).

I will contact the agents recommended on here - thank you for the details. This is important because if I get hit with a 40% PAYE then it is not worth me taking on this opportunity as the daily rate wasn't that good...

Will keep the thread posted in the hope it might help someone in the same position as me...

Thanks again everyone.