First contractor gig, £25000/annual, advice?

[Thanton2]

Thanks for the kind advice people gave.
Post now deleted.

[dmini]

If they are quoting an annual rate that may well be a FTC (fixed term contract) - at which point you wont need (or be able to use) a limited company- you will be employed.
With regards to expenses - that depends on your employment status, and then if you are caught by IR35 or not. You need to read the stuff in the links.
Unless you are extremely skilled in keeping all your tax affairs up to date - and full compliance - and even when the company is dormant there are still forms to complete - you will probably NEED an accountant

Suspect you are going to get some more blunt comments following........

[eek]

FTC of £25,000 means you are an employee with few of the benefits. That means you will be taxed and treated like and employee and can't claim expenses between home and the office - for you are an employee of the company.

It is a contract only in the sense that you are being asked to sign one. In reality you are about to become a temporary employee of that company without the rights (and possibly even the pay) you would get as a permanent member of staff. To be honest its the worst of all possible worlds so only take it if you need to.

Finally to blunt if you are worth only £25,000 in any market you should not be trying to contract. You need to get permanent work, build you skillset up and once you have 5 years experience in something relevant - only then look to go contracting.

[northernladuk]

But shall I try to do the tax myself or use an accountant ?

and then you ask

If going through Ltd, what expenses can I claim? I won't be VAT registered.
I have checked online and there are so many versions regarding this. Hoping s'one with experience could help.

3. Pensions.
I understand this is tax free. Correct? How much is a reasonable amount to pay ?

Does that really sound like you are capable of doing your own accounts?

[VectraMan]

Unless you are extremely skilled in keeping all your tax affairs up to date - and full compliance - and even when the company is dormant there are still forms to complete - you will probably NEED an accountant

"Extremely" skilled? NEED?

It's easy enough, assuming you can add up and type numbers into a web page. The people that flip it up are the ones that put their heads into the sand (and that includes the people who think it's the accountant's responsibility to run the company).

[d000hg]

Finally to blunt if you are worth only £25,000 in any market you should not be trying to contract. You need to get permanent work, build you skillset up and once you have 5 years experience in something relevant - only then look to go contracting.

Not sure about that, if he's worth a £25k salary up north for instance that doesn't mean no sellable skills. He might be better off as a freelancer than a contractor but doesn't appear to say what line of work... coding, support, testing, toilet cleaning, ...

[eek]

Not sure about that, if he's worth a £25k salary up north for instance that doesn't mean no sellable skills. He might be better off as a freelancer than a contractor but doesn't appear to say what line of work... coding, support, testing, toilet cleaning, ...

I know developer rates up north are low (heck I saw a c# team lead role on £35k recently) but £25k is not a contractor level skillset even around here.

[LondonManc]

What sort of gig is this? £25k pa doesn't sound like a contract to me. It also reeks of IR35 because you're talking about a salary from the client. FTC, leave the limited co out of it if that's the case.

[d000hg]

I know developer rates up north are low (heck I saw a c# team lead role on £35k recently) but £25k is not a contractor level skillset even around here.

Well granted it was 9 years ago but I think I was only on £27k when I jumped to contracting. And remember developers are one thing, those working on the web side or as testers may earn less, and equally attract lower contract rates.

[LondonManc]

I know developer rates up north are low (heck I saw a c# team lead role on £35k recently) but £25k is not a contractor level skillset even around here.

Rough rule of thumb for contract rates is that the north (M62 corridor) is generally 60% of London rates.