Oh yes, how to spend £1,200 on advertising...

[IR35FanClub]

This is just some random site I googled by typing £1200 car wrap.

vehicle sign writing | vehicle graphics | van wrap service

I've always fancied getting a TT and wrapping it in a "race car paint scheme". Seems not only is it possible to pay for it out of company expenses (by including my own company logo in the design) it also gives me another 2 points on my business entity test and gets me into the low risk category. What better way to advertise you IT Contracting business - by parking an advert right outside you clients premises where there are lots of project managers and IT resource "consumers".

At least you'll be remembered when they next need your skills. Maybe not for the right reason - but as long as you do a good job at work they'll be saying have you got that blokes phone number who had that awful TT! Think GoCompare! Hmmn. Maybe there's a failure point here... I sent them an email promising never to buy insurance from them because of that annoying opera singer. Seems to have worked as they are seemingly getting ready to ditch him as they keep blowing him up.

The other "fail" is that it's £1,200 a year. So it will need to be redone each year. What a shame. ;-)

[northernladuk]

This is a fail as soon as you get the full stop in the title...

If you need advertising you pay for it and this will count as a positive for the business tests...

If you want to throw £1,200 away just to try and prove you advertise you have wasted your time and your money. They will call it a sham and ignore it.

Can we move this to General so we can discuss.....

[BrilloPad]

A salesman I knew used to wear union jack socks to be remembered. Halfway though each pitch he would exclaim "Oh silly me. Look what stupid socks I put on today!".

The danger is that people might think you have extended yourself too far. Like a company that gets a fountain in the lobby.

[IR35FanClub]

This is a fail as soon as you get the full stop in the title...

If you need advertising you pay for it and this will count as a positive for the business tests...

If you want to throw £1,200 away just to try and prove you advertise you have wasted your time and your money. They will call it a sham and ignore it.

Can we move this to General so we can discuss.....

Doesn't it belong in accounting as its about what I can legitimately spend money on?

I was actually seriously considering it. Even hairdressers advertise on their TT's these days. I cant think of a better way to reach the people who might recruit me than having a mobile advert for my services, all those people in traffic jams and driving past my car in the town centre are potential clients. It's made me realise I need to get a Mk2 not a Mk1 or it will look like I'm not very successful, even though I prefer the old shape :-( I could pay loads for sponsored links or advertising in the local paper and generate no leads. At least this is semi permanent and should last about 4-5 years. Lets face it - IT contracting advertising isn't about generating sales on a website, it's about brand awareness and getting people to remember you.

[Lewis]

They will call it a sham and ignore it.

And what evidence do you have to backup this statement? I have seen vans with "PC repairs" graphics on the side. If you run a website and want extra traffic then it is not such a bad idea. There is a fine line with all these things. The tests say you have to have spent the money, not that is must be spent wisely. Are they going to start saying, "oh that's a silly magazine to put an advert in, you should have done it here instead"? You may prove to be right but I don't think you are qualified to be making such bold claims at this point in time, before these tests have been used in meaningful numbers.

[kingcook]

Use the £1200 to bribe the tax man when s/he comes knocking at your door. Simples.

[centurian]

And what evidence do you have to backup this statement?

The fact that many legal judgements in IR35 cases have thrown out sham clauses/actions. RoS is the biggest example.

But this isn't even a court matter anyway. The business entity tests are not part of any law. The business entity tests were designed for companies to assess themselves for IR35 risk - fiddling the answers means you only kid yourself.

HMRC do use them as a shortcut filtering mechanism for HMRC so that they can target cases more effectively. A status inspector can choose to ignore any aspect of a business entity test and conduct a full status review anyway, at which point the real IR35 legislation comes into force - and spending £1,200 on advertising isn't mentioned anywhere in that.

Realistically, what are their chances of this happening - probably on the low side. But the £1,200 doesn't put you outside IR35, it just reduces the chances that HMRC bother to fight it any further.

[northernladuk]

And what evidence do you have to backup this statement? I have seen vans with "PC repairs" graphics on the side. If you run a website and want extra traffic then it is not such a bad idea. There is a fine line with all these things. The tests say you have to have spent the money, not that is must be spent wisely. Are they going to start saying, "oh that's a silly magazine to put an advert in, you should have done it here instead"? You may prove to be right but I don't think you are qualified to be making such bold claims at this point in time, before these tests have been used in meaningful numbers.

Because everything you have mentioned in B2C so the average man on the street may be interested in the services. Contractors (assuming the OP is mainstream) is B2B via contract for specialised pieces of work. You are right you have to spend the money wisely, and I can't see how putting a wrap on your car advertising yourself is wisely. You are right about the bold claims but you can't just throw common sense and business sense out of the window either. If it works for business it will pass the test, if it is a poorly thought out plan to get extra points on the test it will fail.

[IR35FanClub]

And what evidence do you have to backup this statement? I have seen vans with "PC repairs" graphics on the side. If you run a website and want extra traffic then it is not such a bad idea. There is a fine line with all these things. The tests say you have to have spent the money, not that is must be spent wisely. Are they going to start saying, "oh that's a silly magazine to put an advert in, you should have done it here instead"? You may prove to be right but I don't think you are qualified to be making such bold claims at this point in time, before these tests have been used in meaningful numbers.

Exactly - at least I'll be able to provide evidence I have indeed spent the money on a vehicle wrap bearing my company name and a description of the services. I can't understand why boy racers go round giving free advertising space to motorspares suppliers on their cars. Best to advertise yourself. To be honest although it will be a wrap - I also want it to reflect quality and environmental efficiency (on a 3.2V6?). Somehow the designer will have to work that out from my brief.

Something like this is what I had in mind ;-)

Audi reveals the new R18 e-tron quattro

[northernladuk]

More reasons this thread should be in General.