ir35 concerns

[meuk]

i am a self-employed (not ltd co) web designer. I have been working from home, using my own machine and having multiple clients.

i have recently gotten a 6 month contract working for a design company as a freelance contractor. based on these rules
IR35

I would actually be counted as an employee. How long can I work for someone as a freelance consultant, before I legally should be an employee under IR35.

thanks

[swamp]

Sole traders are unaffected by IR35, I believe. The problem you have is that the client (or agent) becomes liable to pay your NICs if Hector decides that you are an employee, and for this reason most clients/agents will refuse to hire sole traders on long contracts.

[malvolio]

Now repeat after me : I get this terrible feeling of Deja Vu...

You don't become an employee as a result of IR35. That is just one of the taxman's myths (there are many - like "avoidance is bad and should be eliminated")

If your client has said "I want you build a website that looks like this" but hasn't told you how to do it, if you can sub some or all of your work to someone else, if you don't get paid if there's no work for you to do and if you can keep working with your current clients in parallel, then you are probably outside IR35 anyway. Make sure your contract covers all those points explicitly.

Don't become part and parcel of the organisaton anyway, act as a separate supplier at all times. You can safely ignore the equipment provision thing, since a lot of sensible companies don't allow alien hardware on their networks, but use your own if you can.

Pay Bauer and Cottrel £150-ish to vet your contract and negotiate any necessary changes.

Given your trade and your previous working practices, I shouldn't worry about it too much.

[meuk]

If your client has said "I want you build a website that looks like this" but hasn't told you how to do it, if you can sub some or all of your work to someone else, if you don't get paid if there's no work for you to do and if you can keep working with your current clients in parallel, then you are probably outside IR35 anyway. Make sure your contract covers all those points explicitly.

Thanks for the replies.

I think I am within IR35, as get paid on regular basis like an employee, only work for them and get paid regardless of work load. This is why I am wondering about the length of time I can work in this way.

They are talking about turning it into a full time position, as technically I am like an employee now, although the downside is a lot less take home each month after tax than when you are self employed.

[malvolio]

In which case, why are you considering a position where you have no tenure, no holiday pay, no SSP and sick pay, no pension and no employment rights...??? That is why contractors charge more than permies, after all.

Either freelance it or get a permanent role; what you have at the moment is the worst of both worlds.

[Not So Wise]

Contract duration has nothing to with determining IR35 status

Actually nothing on it's own determines IR35 status, you could look at any contractor and get 10 different opinions on him being ir35able or not

Also as mentioned above, self employed has nothing to do with IR35, as it is fully aimed at Ltd's because as registered self employed you are already paying full wack in tax and none of it is dividends. Actually the only ones in "danger" is the client because of your self employed status.

Honestly go Ltd or go Employee, self employed is worst of both worlds