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Utter garbage. You'd think in this day and age they'd smarten it up a bit. Back in the bin it goes.]]> Business / Contracts northernladuk https://forums.contractoruk.com/business-contracts/151479-total-jobs-alerts-utter-garbage.html https://forums.contractoruk.com/business-contracts/151441-self-employed-courier-driving-tax-ni-real-world-take-home-advice.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 09:38:09 GMT
After 3 decades over IT (specialising in cloud/infra market) has effectively flatlined with the exception of catch 22 'Active SC clearance' that is closed off frankly.

So I'm looking at other options rather than sitting around waiting for it to bounce back if it ever will which I no longer am optimistic it has tanked over the last few years and with AI the entry level bar is really low and offshore companies mopping up the low entry contract work there is not much left and AI training to replace myself no thanks.

Basic tax payer for this financial year as well, contracting market I was on reduced days per week with clients as organisations are trimming the fat and keeping the lights on which had kept me in contract work but that has dried up as well.

I've secured an interview with a delivery company and, if it works out, the arrangement would be:

- Self-employed contractor / independent sub ccontractor
- hourly rate (paid weekly)
- Around 6 hours per day
- 4–5 days per week
- Company provides the van
- Company provides the fuel card
- Company provides the vehicle insurance
- No vehicle/fuel/insurance costs coming directly out of my pocket

The main thing I'm trying to understand is how people practically manage the HMRC tax and National Insurance side when moving from years of Umbrella PAYE contracting to self-employment.

The sensible approach is to treat the payment by putting a percentage aside from every payment into a separate account and leave it there for Self Assessment. I'm interested in what percentage people actually put aside in practice.

I'd also be interested in:

- How much do you typically set aside for Income Tax and NI?
- Do you transfer a fixed percentage after every payment, or work from an estimated annual figure? (not sure how I can estimate something that is seasonal, short term work though?)
- How do you deal with HMRC payments on account once they kick in?
- What records/accounts do you keep?
- Is there any useful simple spreadsheet you'd recommend for something relatively straightforward?
- Are there legitimate expenses people commonly overlook with courier work?
- Anything else worth knowing before making the jump ?

I'm not looking for accountant-level theory, particularly interested in real-world experience from people actually doing this, including what percentage you keep aside and how you manage the cash flow so the HMRC bill doesn't come as a nasty surprise.

The fact that the company supplies the van, fuel and insurance makes the numbers look potentially workable, but I'm trying to understand the actual take-home position before deciding whether it's worth pursuing.

I do wish that I could be able to make real time payment directly to HMRC rather than self assessment which is not really fit for purpose for gig economy sector/additional income top up this would be a sensible approach to be compliant and efficient.]]> Business / Contracts WhoApprovedThis https://forums.contractoruk.com/business-contracts/151441-self-employed-courier-driving-tax-ni-real-world-take-home-advice.html