United Nations IPSA Contract

[Bluebird]

Anybody been engaged on one of these?

What should I expect? Umbrella / Ltd Company?

Any thoughts of opinions most welcome!

[northernladuk]

Anybody been engaged on one of these?

What should I expect? Umbrella / Ltd Company?

Any thoughts of opinions most welcome!

Do you know what the acronym IPSA stands for?

Did you do any research first?

[Bluebird]

Yes I did and yes I do.

It sounds like it could be treated as a permie / fixed term contract type role - but you have to provide your own insurance, payment is made in $ based on a rate and it looks like you get paid monthly but with some holiday allowance ( which again looks like permie ).


However I wasn't sure about things like what happens with exchange rates, and tax ect which was why I asked if anyone had prior knowledge of working using this type of arrangement.

Have you got any experience that you can share?

[ladymuck]

Exchange rates in accounts can be very simple. Back in my yoof, I worked in the Treasury department for a large company, managing accounts in USD, CHF, EUR (and pre-EUR currencies) and converting to GBP so my approach to dealing with it is based on those 10 years of my life that I will never get back.

So you invoice in USD. You ought to open a Wise account (I think the name may have changed but you'll still be able to find it) to receive the funds as that will incur less in charges than your average high street bank. Then you draw down on the funds to your Ltd Co account when you need them in GBP. Others here can cover that if you need more info.

Your invoice will have a GBP equivalent that would be the spot rate on the day you issued the invoice. When you draw down the funds from Wise, that will convert according to the rate on the day of that transaction. The difference in the GBP value you post as a gain/loss on exchange rates and you treat it as income/expenditure accordingly in your accounts. There's no VAT treatment (exempt) but you may be able to offset losses against CT, with the risk of paying more CT if you make a profit. Talk to your accountant for confirmation.

What you will need advice on is the charging of VAT. I don't know the answer to that one. I'm assuming you'll be invoicing to UN in New York.

[northernladuk]

Yes I did and yes I do.

It sounds like it could be treated as a permie / fixed term contract type role - but you have to provide your own insurance, payment is made in $ based on a rate and it looks like you get paid monthly but with some holiday allowance ( which again looks like permie ).


However I wasn't sure about things like what happens with exchange rates, and tax ect which was why I asked if anyone had prior knowledge of working using this type of arrangement.

Have you got any experience that you can share?

Just for clarity of others. IPSA is International Personnel Services Agreement

Individuals engaged under IPSA have the status of International Personnel Service Agreement Holders, and are specifically engaged in recognition of their skills and expertise, to provide identified deliverables. These individuals are not UNDP staff members, but are considered affiliate personnel and, as such are not governed by or subject to the United Nations’ Staff Regulations and Rules. Nor is this contract modality governed by national legislation in countries where UNDP operates. Given that the services covered by the IPSA may only be provided by natural and not legal persons (e.g., duly formed/registered companies), and by non-incorporated partnerships, the IPSA falls within the overall scope of UNDP Human Resource management framework.

https://uncareer.net/new-ipsa-and-np...nd-un-agencies

[eek]

Tax is also simple - Income from the UN is tax free for reasons but I suspect you will need a form from HMRC that they won't be able to find easily...

[jamesbrown]

Regarding VAT, assuming the invoicing entity is VAT registered, then the VAT place of supply rules apply. The general rule for B2B supplies (there are special rules, this is the general rule) is that the place of supply is where the customer is based, so if the customer is based in the US, these B2B services would be "outside of the scope of UK VAT" (not to be confused with exempt from VAT) and any invoice should include this phrase. In terms of accounting for realised/unrealised gains/losses on FX in your accounts (based on invoice date and FX date), this is easily handled by modern bookkeeping software, such as FA. But, as noted above, this doesn't sound like a B2B contract, more like a fixed term employment.

[jamesbrown]

Tax is also simple - Income from the UN is tax free for reasons but I suspect you will need a form from HMRC that they won't be able to find easily...

Worth looking into, but it would depend on their contract as that exemption is for employed officials rather than self-employed contractors (and certainly not B2B supplies):

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-man...ual/intm860760

[Bluebird]

Thanks all - thats most enlightening!

[northernladuk]

Regarding VAT, assuming the invoicing entity is VAT registered, then the VAT place of supply rules apply. The general rule for B2B supplies (there are special rules, this is the general rule) is that the place of supply is where the customer is based, so if the customer is based in the US, these B2B services would be "outside of the scope of UK VAT" (not to be confused with exempt from VAT) and any invoice should include this phrase. In terms of accounting for realised/unrealised gains/losses on FX in your accounts (based on invoice date and FX date), this is easily handled by modern bookkeeping software, such as FA. But, as noted above, this doesn't sound like a B2B contract, more like a fixed term employment.

I thought I highlighted the important bit so we didn't have to go down the VAT rabbit hole?