From Permanent To Contract

[HankWangford]

Oh, I almost forgot - To answer Orangutan, I do get on well with all the people in the office, there's no animosity - the boss has been very decent about the whole thing so far too, I don't fear any reprisals if it comes out that I've gone to the dark side.

I reckon the company just don't want me to go telling people I'd earn more than them.

you wont earn more.....in real terms, you have to pay for your own holidays, sickness, training, accounting, hassle of dealing with f*kwit agents. Explain this to the permies they soon shut it.

[thunderlizard]

It's always good to have another opportunity but don't let it shake your judgement too much. Properly reevaluate the reasons that made you give notice in the first place. If they haven't changed, get gone.

[gazelm]

Before setting up your company you need to check if thats the most cost effective way of operating...its been a long time since I looked at the different options but given that this sounds like it would certainly be caught by IR35, I suspect you would be better setting up as a sole trader rather than setting up a limited company....but I may be very wrong on this.

I hadn't considered the sole trader option yet, thanks for pointing that out.

I've done a lot of reading about the various contracting options; ltd. comp, umbrella comp, etc. and I'd pretty much decided to go the whole hog and start my own ltd before they offered to keep me on here.

My thinking at the moment is that if I can negotiate some sort of flexible working arrangement at the place I'm at, I can do other contracts at the same time on a deliverable, rather than time in the office, basis.
That's probably a long shot though - it'd be patently obvious to the others in the office that I wasn't any ordinary employee any more, and I can't see myself being able to get a lot of other contracts while I'm committed to this one - especially this early in my contracting life.

Hi ho... time to spend some time working out the value of sick pay...

[rootsnall]

So I have three choices: negotiate a permie pay rise, take an inside IR35 contract, or move elsewhere.

You could still get them to sign up to an IR35 friendly contract ( a good test of the PCG one !? ) and gamble. I think the odds of you getting pulled are minimal ! If they do investigate and you lose then you pay up.

[gazelm]

You could still get them to sign up to an IR35 friendly contract ( a good test of the PCG one !? ) and gamble. I think the odds of you getting pulled are minimal ! If they do investigate and you lose then you pay up.

That's true, it is an option...

I wonder if the PCG investigation insurance would cover me for a situation like this. Do they normally cover you as long as you get a friendly contract, or do they quiz you about the working conditions too?

[rootsnall]

That's true, it is an option...

I wonder if the PCG investigation insurance would cover me for a situation like this. Do they normally cover you as long as you get a friendly contract, or do they quiz you about the working conditions too?

No quizing, you just pay your money. It only covers the cost of the investigation not the potential tax bill.

[Ardesco]

That's true, it is an option...

I wonder if the PCG investigation insurance would cover me for a situation like this. Do they normally cover you as long as you get a friendly contract, or do they quiz you about the working conditions too?

I doubt it would cover you because you are blatantly caught by IR35 no matter what your contract says. This is exactly the thing that IR35 was brought in to prevent.

If you do get investigated you WILL loose, no two ways about it. You can take the gambe and declare it as outside IR35, but be prepared to pay the tax and a fine if IR everget round to looking at you.

[Old Greg]

Even if you're caught within IR35, I might see this as an opportunity to get into contracting (if that's what you want). You've got a low-risk transfer from permie to contracting work. Then with your foot in the door and hopefully stashing a bit of money, you can bide your time, wait for the right opportunity and then head off when it suits you.

[oraclesmith]

Everyone seems so sure it would be inside IR35 - but can we really be so sure?

The pointers have surely got to be the contract itself and the actual working relationships and conditions on the contract, not the just contractors past employment history ?

If the contractor has a good contract with lots of control, substitution, no MOO etc and they make sure they behave like a contractor in relation to the hiring business (eg. doesn't get involved in employee perks etc) and that the business co-operates in treating them like a contractor, then what hard facts have HMRC got to base a case on ?

[tim123]

I doubt it would cover you because you are blatantly caught by IR35 no matter what your contract says. This is exactly the thing that IR35 was brought in to prevent.
.

I don't agree. Yes IR35 was brought in to stop people simply becoming 'consultants' and doing the same job as they did before.

But if the service that they are performing for the company is significantly different to the one that the employee performed, there is no reason why the contract cannot be constructed to be outside of IR35.

tim