Umbrella company qs about income and claims

**contractreviews.co.uk** · 1 November 2009, 15:28

Originally posted by nick101 View Post

I've recently taken 3 months of work on a contract. I signed up with the umbrella company Giant.

I get paid weekly. So far I have not claimed any expenses.

My 1st weeks pay was 900. However Giant only gave me 64% of this amount.

I thought that If i was on a PAYE scheme then I would get around 70% of my earnings. Although I havent claimed expenses (food and travel ticket) shouldnt my pay be atleast 70% of 900?

Giant told me that I will be able to claim £8 breakfast, £9 lunch and £18 dinner. Plus travel expenses. They estimated that I would get 74% salary.

What are the chances of me being investigated by HMRC? I'm not sure whether I should claim the maximum for food expenses. Do most people only claim for the actual expenses incurred?

Should I ask for a breakdown of where the 36% of my income is going?

All help, advice and comments appreciated. Thanks

Hi Nick,

How much you get will depend on your individual circumstances. i.e. higher rate tax payer.

Did you deduct Giants margin from your calculation?

I think that you should ask for a breakdown. That way you will know exactly where your money has gone.

M

**malvolio** · 1 November 2009, 15:59

Originally posted by nick101 View Post

Giant told me that I will be able to claim £8 breakfast, £9 lunch and £18 dinner. Plus travel expenses. They estimated that I would get 74% salary.

You can claim breakfast and dinner if you're staying away overnight. How does that align to also claiming travel expenses? I've never really got the idea of claiming lunch; after all you have to eat at least one meal a day anyway.

If you claim for expenses you haven't actually incurred, do you think that might be crossing a legal boundary...? Giant may have a set of scale charges, of course, but given the current HMRC interest in such things, you might need to treat them with a degree of caution.

Should I ask for a breakdown of where the 36% of my income is going?

You're paying Giant quite a lot of money (probably unnecessarily, but that's your choice) to manage your income affairs. What do you think?

All help, advice and comments appreciated. Thanks

The best advice is to go away and learn about the business you're in. There are plenty og guides out there; read them.

**MarkOD** · 2 November 2009, 09:13

by the sounds of it you're putting your invoice amount in to a PAYE calculator. Have you taken in to account being a contractor you've got the "Employers NI" to pay?????b

**MarkOD** · 2 November 2009, 09:16

i've just put it in to my Umbrellas calcualtor with no expenses and it's coming up with that amount roughly as they charge less than Giant. As a contractor you've got 2 forms of NI to pay, make sure you bear this in mind otherwise you're going to be disappointed. It seems your brolly haven't gone through with you how it all works when you're a contractor compared to PAYE

**Torran** · 2 November 2009, 09:29

Originally posted by nick101;

Giant told me that I will be able to claim £8 breakfast, £9 lunch and £18 dinner. Plus travel expenses. They estimated that I would get 74% salary.

What are the chances of me being investigated by HMRC? I'm not sure whether I should claim the maximum for food expenses. Do most people only claim for the actual expenses incurred?

Should I ask for a breakdown of where the 36% of my income is going?

All help, advice and comments appreciated. Thanks

for the love of god learn how to search and read some guides. Your questions are quite ridiculous.

**MarkOD** · 2 November 2009, 09:31

or at least use a brolly that isn't advising you to commit fraud!

**LisaContractorUmbrella** · 2 November 2009, 09:45

Originally posted by nick101 View Post

I've recently taken 3 months of work on a contract. I signed up with the umbrella company Giant.

I get paid weekly. So far I have not claimed any expenses.

My 1st weeks pay was 900. However Giant only gave me 64% of this amount.

I thought that If i was on a PAYE scheme then I would get around 70% of my earnings. Although I havent claimed expenses (food and travel ticket) shouldnt my pay be atleast 70% of 900?

Giant told me that I will be able to claim £8 breakfast, £9 lunch and £18 dinner. Plus travel expenses. They estimated that I would get 74% salary.

What are the chances of me being investigated by HMRC? I'm not sure whether I should claim the maximum for food expenses. Do most people only claim for the actual expenses incurred?

Should I ask for a breakdown of where the 36% of my income is going?

All help, advice and comments appreciated. Thanks

All UK employers are obliged to pay employer's national insurance and this is no different with umbrella companies so they will calculate your salary based on your contract rate but allowing for the employer's NI contribution which needs to be paid to HMR&C. From your salary you will then be liable for income tax and employee's NI as with normal employment; you will also pay a fee to the umbrella company for processing your payments.

An umbrella company that estimates a 75% salary can only do so if they assume high levels of expenses which you may or may not incur. In this case your umbrella company has assumed that you will incur £175.00 of expenses each week that you obviously haven't - hence the disparity between your quoted salary and your actual salary.

HTH

**Torran** · 2 November 2009, 09:55

Originally posted by MarkOD View Post

or at least use a brolly that isn't advising you to commit fraud!

Och it's Giant, they've been at it for years.

**MarkOD** · 2 November 2009, 10:59

touche

Umbrella company qs about income and claims