Help - The umbrella i work through is not paying me and has closed down !

[Pondlife]

Never ceases to amaze me how easily some contractors give away all their hard earned cash to anyone who promises a few quid extra take home. Truly remarkable.

WHS

[geoff from contracta IOM]

Never ceases to amaze me how easily some contractors give away all their hard earned cash to anyone who promises a few quid extra take home. Truly remarkable.

Probably not very helpful at this time FB

[Fred Bloggs]

Probably not very helpful at this time FB

No, but very relevant to the sad situation all the same. I'm afraid I have little sympathy with the victims.

[Fred Bloggs]

Its a calculated risk, for most people, when they do it. Nothing remarkable about finding a more tax effective solution. You base things like this on facts, recommendations from people you trust and know and ultimately your gut feel. Sometimes it works out, well, sometimes it doesn't.

It is extremely remarkable. When you put in figures in Contractor Calculator for a hypothetical contract of £43/hr, 40 hours, 44 weeks, £5k expenses etc..... It typically returns well in excess of 80% retention. In my own case, 86%. So promises of ~85% retention of your own money for (IMO) taking a huge risk is indeed quite remarkable.

[geoff from contracta IOM]

It is extremely remarkable. When you put in figures in Contractor Calculator for a hypothetical contract of £43/hr, 40 hours, 44 weeks, £5k expenses etc..... It typically returns well in excess of 80% retention. In my own case, 86%. So promises of ~85% retention of your own money for (IMO) taking a huge risk is indeed quite remarkable.

Expenses should not be counted for retention FB they are expenses , straight in straight out

[SueEllen]

Its a calculated risk, for most people, when they do it. Nothing remarkable about finding a more tax effective solution. You base things like this on facts, recommendations from people you trust and know and ultimately your gut feel. Sometimes it works out, well, sometimes it doesn't.

How do you think conmen operate?

There are legal tax loopholes but when a person citing a more "tax efficient" method isn't regulated to handle clients' money by any legally recognised body in the UK, EU or whatever jurisdiction then you are asking to be ripped off.

[SueEllen]

Expenses should not be counted for retention FB they are expenses , straight in straight out

True but some of my expenses mean I save in paying it out of my taxed income and make my life much easier for myself.

[northernladuk]

Having read the marketing blurb from Tract a page or two before, I have to say that I have rarely seen such a poorly worded document, and obviously working in in the industry I can see huge holes in what they were saying. If I can spot that, any decent accountant worth their salt should have been able to do so as well. Looking at that, I have to say that the tract scheme was the sort of "dodgy" operation that gives other more reliable firms a bad name.

You should have seen the website. It was terrible. I know the look of website isn't always the best way to judge a company but by god it sets the alarm bells ringing for me.

[maikub]

It is extremely remarkable. When you put in figures in Contractor Calculator for a hypothetical contract of £43/hr, 40 hours, 44 weeks, £5k expenses etc..... It typically returns well in excess of 80% retention. In my own case, 86%. So promises of ~85% retention of your own money for (IMO) taking a huge risk is indeed quite remarkable.

Is this through a ltd co or other strategy? Please don't sell me another umbrella co though

I can see an element of greed sets in with some people (both behind the scenes of these companies and the people signing up) to get the most money and not fully understanding the risks.

I agree completely that its risky, but some people enjoy that when its good, but some not so much when it goes south to bahamas or some country with no extradition treaty with the UK...

[SueEllen]

You should have seen the website. It was terrible. I know the look of website isn't always the best way to judge a company but by god it sets the alarm bells ringing for me.

To be fair people on here have been ripped of by companies who run schemes with decent websites as well.

I've also brought goods and services, and had contracts with companies who were completely legit but had damn awful websites.

Though all those companies could be checked out in other ways, and had legit addresses on their website which matched with their domain name details.