Any room on the bench?

[suityou01]

<Placeholder>

Quitter.

[alreadypacked]

Quitter.

[northernladuk]

Benches are for contractors. You are looking for some room in the dole queue...

HTH

[FiveTimes]

My space might be available but I doubt you will be able to get your fat arse in the skinny space I am "hoping" to leave

[Mich the Tester]

This is the problem with permiedom in the main.

If you want £80K+ permie they expect 12 hour days, 7 days a week and endless travel and bulltulip.

Since 50% then goes in tax, no thanks.

52% here. The great thing with contracting though is that I decide what my costs are and what my profits are. I don't have to spend all year in cheapo hotels if the taxman prefers me to stay in posh places. I also don't have to work all year, so I can easily manage my hours to avoid the top tax rate. Lady Tester is a permie who's recently gone down from a 38 hour week to a 32 hour week because she hit the higher tax rate and can't be arsed working like hell to support a fat, useless government and a growing army of dependents. We are living examples of the idea that high marginal tax rates kill the incentive to work and produce. I'd rather just work a bit less, earn a bit less, pay off the mortgage and to hell with your stupid rates of taxation.

[cojak]

52% here. The great thing with contracting though is that I decide what my costs are and what my profits are. I don't have to spend all year in cheapo hotels if the taxman prefers me to stay in posh places. I also don't have to work all year, so I can easily manage my hours to avoid the top tax rate. Lady Tester is a permie who's recently gone down from a 38 hour week to a 32 hour week because she hit the higher tax rate and can't be arsed working like hell to support a fat, useless government and a growing army of dependents. We are living examples of the idea that high marginal tax rates kill the incentive to work and produce. I'd rather just work a bit less, earn a bit less, pay off the mortgage and to hell with your stupid rates of taxation.

+1

[norrahe]

52% here. The great thing with contracting though is that I decide what my costs are and what my profits are. I don't have to spend all year in cheapo hotels if the taxman prefers me to stay in posh places. I also don't have to work all year, so I can easily manage my hours to avoid the top tax rate. Lady Tester is a permie who's recently gone down from a 38 hour week to a 32 hour week because she hit the higher tax rate and can't be arsed working like hell to support a fat, useless government and a growing army of dependents. We are living examples of the idea that high marginal tax rates kill the incentive to work and produce. I'd rather just work a bit less, earn a bit less, pay off the mortgage and to hell with your stupid rates of taxation.

You have the advantage that you don't have the expat tax ruling which is a mare if you are contracting with a BV. You can pay yourself the low salary and keep the costs high.

I need to keep my salary at a certain level, if it slips below that, I lose the nice tax discount and all its advantages ( like no tax on any assets and a nice 30% discount on the higher tax rate).

[Mich the Tester]

You have the advantage that you don't have the expat tax ruling which is a mare if you are contracting with a BV. You can pay yourself the low salary and keep the costs high.

I need to keep my salary at a certain level, if it slips below that, I lose the nice tax discount and all its advantages ( like no tax on any assets and a nice 30% discount on the higher tax rate).

Yep, I have to pay myself a minimum of 41k euros as a director unless I fail to make 41k euros revenues. But beyond that I pay myself not one cent. What I´m looking at now is employing Lady Tester´s mum, seeing as she´s over 65 and therefore only pays 21% income tax on most of her income. Aside from that, I pay myself dividends or I just sod off on holiday and don´t bother to work.

[Old Hack]

We've just started paying the absolute bare legal minimum in wages, taking the rest, up the upper limit, in dividends between me and Mrs OH. I was tempted to pay myself min wage and claim tax credits. With 3 kids, we'd have got £30k a year, but it was a step too far.

Just had enough of being milked.

[Mich the Tester]

Just had enough of being milked.

Yep, that's the long and the short of it. It doesn't matter how much tax we pay, politicians never have enough money and always come back squealing for more. My answer to the lot of them is 'get stuffed'. I'm not playing the high income game any more, it's low personal costs, high business costs, low salary and easy living for me. I don't need or care for brand new cars and I certainly don't want to fall into the trap of buying a great big expensive house that would keep me working to the grave.