Can I work through my partner's company?

[ba55meister]

Hi

My partner has a Limited company and I am wondering if I can work as a contractor while being simply employed by her company? There's no poin t for me to set up another company I guess. Can I do that?

Thanks

[Scoobos]

Yes you can, and I also think it's a good idea if you are worried about IR35.

[ba55meister]

thanks for the reply. So I think working through my partenrs copany would be something similar to working through the umbrella company, right?

I'm a bit confused with contracts situation then. Will I need to tell the agency that I work in that way so they send with my partner's name or the contract is between the two companies it doesnt matter unless a company director signs it?

[northernladuk]

Personally I wouldn't. Getting partners involved in companies can lead to horrible problems when it all goes wrong. Yes you are strong couple, don't expect to split up and never argue about money. They all say that.

For the extra cost (which is pretty insignificant really) I would start a different company. I wouldn't mix business and pleasure for a couple of grand. That is my personal view.

If you want to forget personal opinion and relationship matters then get an accountant. Mixing business and pleasure is bad enough when it works let alone not having a clue. Get a good accountant and sit down with them.

[ba55meister]

Nah I'm very confident in my partner there's no probs with her being a director . She has her own small business selling some graphic designs and design services so I thought it'd be a good idea to do it all under one limited company since I am a web designer/developer myself

[northernladuk]

Nah I'm very confident in my partner there's no probs with her being a director . She has her own small business selling some graphic designs and design services so I thought it'd be a good idea to do it all under one limited company since I am a web designer/developer myself

Ah well in that case it would be very beneficial to try and demostrate some cross over of your two roles so the both of you contribute to a single solution. That would work well. If you feel confident it would being partners then fair enough, just don't scrimp on the legalities of company split becuase 'it will be ok'. Nothing wrong with getting it documented properly.

[Scoobos]

thanks for the reply. So I think working through my partenrs copany would be something similar to working through the umbrella company, right?

I'm a bit confused with contracts situation then. Will I need to tell the agency that I work in that way so they send with my partner's name or the contract is between the two companies it doesnt matter unless a company director signs it?

1. You'd be an employee of the company,(you can be a 50% share holder - but you'll have to pool and share profits).

2. Contracts are usually B2B arrangements, so it would be made out in the company name to the company address . You can have named resource in the contract, but yes, any director can sign it.

I've ran my company with other employees, and the only difficulty I ever had was that if you're going to pay in dividends, you need to agree the split and juggle them about a bit. (e.g person 1 earns 60% of the income, then either they are happy to lose the 10% and go 50/50 , as a couple would - or the shares need allocating appropriately).

I should add, as some will no doubt counter - I am not in anyway a pro at this , its just my opinion and my own method of dealing with this.

[northernladuk]

1. You'd be an employee of the company,(you can be a 50% share holder - but you'll have to pool and share profits).

2. Contracts are usually B2B arrangements, so it would be made out in the company name to the company address . You can have named resource in the contract, but yes, any director can sign it.

I've ran my company with other employees, and the only difficulty I ever had was that if you're going to pay in dividends, you need to agree the split and juggle them about a bit. (e.g person 1 earns 60% of the income, then either they are happy to lose the 10% and go 50/50 , as a couple would - or the shares need allocating appropriately).

I should add, as some will no doubt counter - I am not in anyway a pro at this , its just my opinion and my own method of dealing with this.

WSS but remember you can only divi out of profit and you have to stick to the share allocation. Dividend waivers are to be avoided at all costs. This means when you are not in a gig your profits will be reduced but you will still have to divi 50/50 (or whatever your split is) so could be in a situation where you are taking half of your partners profits. In this situation you have to look carefully in to the rules about passing money between you two personally which could have you falling foul of income shifting rules. I don't understand the legistlation fully but needs taking in to account.