The Decision Tool :)

[WordIsBond]

Not if you are engaged on a List-X site. Then for reasons of national security I would not be permitted to use my own gear (laptop), nor can I remove any such data from the site. To fulfil the contract I have no option but to work on the clients site. Unless of course I am allowed to turn my business premises into a List-X site with all the appropriate network and physical security. I think the local council might have something to say about the physical security measures.

But all that just means that it should be irrelevant for someone on such a contract.

No one is suggesting that using client equipment should put you inside. Obviously, there are many cases where it shouldn't. The question is what should put you outside.

[Whorty]

The equipment question should be about whether you are >required< to use your company's equipment, not whether you are permitted to. Lots of employees use their own equipment. But if you have to use your own rather than theirs, it's a strong indicator.

And it should not ask whether your company owned the equipment previously. Totally irrelevant.

We have larger consultancy companies do work and some of their staff are also provided end client laptops. This is because they connect to sensitive areas of the network and internal IT don't want none end-client kit accessing these areas. So, in these instances, I am working exactly the same as a consultancy with 6000 staff.

And this is the crux of the matter. As a small consultancy I'm providing the same consultancy as I did when I worked for a big 4, yet my 500 per day should be taxed as PAYE yet the 2000 per day that Big4 received can be taxed as corporate tax as they paid me a salary which was through PAYE.

If I'm deemed employee doing what I'm doing today as an independent then I should have been too as a consultant ... that is, Big4 should be paying NICs etc on the 2000 per day, not on the meagre salary they gave me.

[Whorty]

The point of the tool is to find out if you are different from an employee or not. So only questions that distinguish you from employees, or show that you are like one, are useful.

Questions like ... do you get pension, holiday pay, company phone, company credit card etc .... if only it was that simple

[RonBW]

Questions like ... do you get pension, holiday pay, company phone, company credit card etc .... if only it was that simple

Q1) Worker: Do you intend this engagement to be treated like one of employment?

Q2) Client: Do you intend this engagement to be treated like one of employment?

Anything more complicated than that is overkill

[vwdan]

We have larger consultancy companies do work and some of their staff are also provided end client laptops. This is because they connect to sensitive areas of the network and internal IT don't want none end-client kit accessing these areas. So, in these instances, I am working exactly the same as a consultancy with 6000 staff.

And this is the crux of the matter. As a small consultancy I'm providing the same consultancy as I did when I worked for a big 4, yet my 500 per day should be taxed as PAYE yet the 2000 per day that Big4 received can be taxed as corporate tax as they paid me a salary which was through PAYE.

If I'm deemed employee doing what I'm doing today as an independent then I should have been too as a consultant ... that is, Big4 should be paying NICs etc on the 2000 per day, not on the meagre salary they gave me.

This is my biggest beef - I work pretty much the same whether I'm a contractor or a at a consultancy. The PAYE thing I could probably handle, but the expenses thing isn't sustainable.

[gables]

Q1) Worker: Do you intend this engagement to be treated like one of employment?

Q2) Client: Do you intend this engagement to be treated like one of employment?

Anything more complicated than that is overkill

Where I've just finished, the guidance (on the intranet) for hiring managers was that contractors were not employees and were not to be treated as such, it was explicit in this.

Whorty's posts sum it up for me, but both scenarios don't work for HMRC though

[b r]

If I'm deemed employee doing what I'm doing today as an independent then I should have been too as a consultant ... that is, Big4 should be paying NICs etc on the 2000 per day, not on the meagre salary they gave me.

Or at least on the percentage that goes (or the part of the charge/hours they get from each contract) to the directors/partners who take a dividend.

[Semtex]

director of PS X organisation's head is on the block for fines and Tax/NI if negligence plays a part of any decision if the ESS tool has not been used as it should then financial liability is on his head.

Its all about risk and Cover your arse.

don't expect a client to complete this anyway but conservatively

[RonBW]

director of PS X organisation's head is on the block for fines and Tax/NI if negligence plays a part of any decision if the ESS tool has not been used as it should then financial liability is on his head.

When did liability shift from the payer to the end client?

[eek]

When did liability shift from the payer to the end client?

It shifts to the end client if the end client doesn't provide a decision in 31 days or is found to have not completed the form accurately.