Basic question on contractor pay rates and tax

[northernladuk]

Ignore ALL of what this poster says. Hes got a small willy and thinks he knows it all.

OP Refer back to my previous comment.

[SueEllen]

Ignore ALL of what this poster says. Hes got a small willy and thinks he knows it all.

Actually your comment was particularly unhelpful.

The OP needs to ask the agent questions to check what type of contract s/he has.

Then and only then will s/he be able to work out the parts that are true, the parts that are half true and the parts that are damn lies.

The ratio this is depends on how you question them and your own knowledge.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

I think most of the replies agree I need to do more homework on the options I have before signing the contract and that's what I am doing.

Thanks for the advice and to be honest I don't think what Hays offered was anything sinister or misleading, they are just 'acting' between me and the Client and mentioned about the different pay types I can get and its up to me to do more research.

SueEllen - thanks for advice and yes they did offer me a list of umbrella companies but also said its all upto me.

What confused me was the 2 rates they gave me, premium and basic and I think when I contact umbrella I should be using the Premium rate (13% higher)

If the rate that they are offering you to work through an umbrella company is only 13% higher than the rate they are offering you through their own PAYE model then you could actually be worse off. The contract rate multiplied by your hours/days worked will be invoiced by the umbrella company to the recruitment agency - when payment is received the umbrella company will retain their margin (usually £25-£30 per week) and then they also have a legal obligation to pay employer's NIC's which are 13.8% of earnings over and above a threshold.

It may be that you are entitled to tax relief on some of your expenses but there are no guarantees as it depends on your circumstances and it is highly likely that they would only be allowable until April next year anyway. Hays have a closed PSL which means that you will have no choice in the umbrella company you use - it must be one of those on their preferred suppliers list.

Look very carefully at the options that you have available to you before making a decision to accept the contract i.e. read the small print

[psychocandy]

Actually your comment was particularly unhelpful.

The OP needs to ask the agent questions to check what type of contract s/he has.

Then and only then will s/he be able to work out the parts that are true, the parts that are half true and the parts that are damn lies.

The ratio this is depends on how you question them and your own knowledge.

Right so NLUK starts off with a similar comment about me but you choose to pick up on my comment.

I wonder why that is?

[SlipTheJab]

Right so NLUK starts off with a similar comment about me but you choose to pick up on my comment.

I wonder why that is?

Didn't you know that CUK is the NLUK and SE show!

[SueEllen]

Right so NLUK starts off with a similar comment about me but you choose to pick up on my comment.

I wonder why that is?

Ignore anything Hays say to you. It will be a lie.

How is this going to help the OP when they have work with the agent?

Agents lie like all sales people but within their lies an amount of what they say is the truth.

[clearedforlanding]

Agents lie like all sales people but within their lies an amount of what they say is the truth.

Absolutely, when they say I am the best candidate they are submitting, I know it to be irrefutable.

[SueEllen]

Cfl you were supposed to be kind