2014 Salary - £10K it is

[Martin at NixonWilliams]

We've not seen it challenged, but such payments are only available if you're an employee so that's not to say they couldn't be in my view.

Clients are free to do whatever they prefer, it's just our view

I see, thanks for clarifying - Most of those I have seen paying in line with NMW do so for ethical reasons only!

[jmo21]

It's nothing to do with IR35, that's totally unrelated.

If you're paying a low salary then we'd recommend £12,000 as it's line with NMW, therefore there can be no arguments re statutory payments etc. If I were an HMRC Inspector I'd personally be looking more at people on the NI level salary as they're obviously more interested in minimising tax so might be pushing boundaries. Of course there are a hundred other factors like late payments and late filing etc, but erring on the side of caution for the sake of a few hundred quid.....

My accountant, who used to be part of SJD, says the same thing. Their recommended salary level is £12,000 too.

[SunnyInHades]

select c.DirectorName, c.Company, y.Income from Companies c, YearAccounts y where (y.Income == 12000 and (s.DirectorName == y.DirectorName));
122765 hits
"Sod that, can't be bothered to check that lot at the moment"

select c.DirectorName, c.Company, y.Income from Companies c, YearAccounts y where (y.Income == 10000 and (s.DirectorName == y.DirectorName));
1500 hits
"Umm lets 'ave a look at these chancers"

[Contreras]

select c.DirectorName, c.Company, y.Income from Companies c, YearAccounts y where (y.Income == 12000 and (s.DirectorName == y.DirectorName));
122765 hits
"Sod that, can't be bothered to check that lot at the moment"

select c.DirectorName, c.Company, y.Income from Companies c, YearAccounts y where (y.Income == 10000 and (s.DirectorName == y.DirectorName));
1500 hits
"Umm lets 'ave a look at these chancers"

It could just as easily be supposed that the group which pays the higher salary are not bothering to take an interest in their own business, will just do what they're told, and therefore perhaps have the same approach to contracts and working practices.

Unfortunately it is only supposition. Even if there was a correlation between salary level and risk of investigation, those in the know (HMRC themselves, and the insurance co.s) have a vested interest in not publishing if/how targets are profiled. You might argue that PCG are best placed to gather this data but they don't.

[Zero Liability]

Also very much doubt that the figures would be anything like that, probably much the opposite.

[d000hg]

£12,000 is still worth consideration. It's in line with National Minimum Wage, which you don't need to consider if you're a director, but should be thinking about if you want to claim you're an employee and therefore entitled to employee statutory payments like SSP, SMP etc.

One quick point - I hadn't considered this but your salary questionnaire asked me how many hours a week I work and this reminded me that £12k is only inline with NMW if you work a full working week. How much holiday does that assume?

For those who take long gaps or bench time between contracts, or regularly work contracts less than full time (I do about 4 days a week between two contracts), you can surely be inside NMW and still take a £10k salary?

Incidentally Clare, why are you asking me about my working hours?

[ASB]

One quick point - I hadn't considered this but your salary questionnaire asked me how many hours a week I work and this reminded me that £12k is only inline with NMW if you work a full working week. How much holiday does that assume?

For those who take long gaps or bench time between contracts, or regularly work contracts less than full time (I do about 4 days a week between two contracts), you can surely be inside NMW and still take a £10k salary?

Incidentally Clare, why are you asking me about my working hours?

yes, what you say is true. But what you do on the companys contracts isnt really the point. It is what your hours are with your company. A reasonable view might be that is full time. Even if not necessarily actively doing billable work.

[d000hg]

Granted when considering benched time. But why would it be reasonable that you're full-time working for your company if you only take 3-4 day a week contracts in the first place?

[The Spartan]

One quick point - I hadn't considered this but your salary questionnaire asked me how many hours a week I work and this reminded me that £12k is only inline with NMW if you work a full working week. How much holiday does that assume?

A very good point seeing as some contractors like myself, take two months off per year.

[Clare@InTouch]

One quick point - I hadn't considered this but your salary questionnaire asked me how many hours a week I work and this reminded me that £12k is only inline with NMW if you work a full working week. How much holiday does that assume?

For those who take long gaps or bench time between contracts, or regularly work contracts less than full time (I do about 4 days a week between two contracts), you can surely be inside NMW and still take a £10k salary?

Incidentally Clare, why are you asking me about my working hours?

It's an RTI filing requirement for Universal Credits - gives HMRC more information and, in theory, then enables them to act quicker in making changes to your record & not over/underpay claimants.

https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/overview