Reply to: Limited co & pregnant girlfriend/employee

[Sockpuppet]

p.s. I'm clearly less clueless than you since you use an accountant and I don't - work that one out.

Who's the one with a girlfriend up the spout?

*joke* but I shall await ferrets size twelve

[chris79]

I won't carry on this tit-for-tat bs, I'll make my own decisions but thanks for your concern.

[dude69]

p.s. I'm clearly less clueless than you since you use an accountant and I don't - work that one out.

You what?

You clearly are uninformed about accountancy matters, and to make things worse, too arrogant and lazy to get informed.

And despite three pages of people telling you that the issues are complex, you still insist that you asked a simple question.

And then you insist that despite not knowing what you are doing in accountancy matters, refusing to find out, and that despite the high risks involved with getting things wrong, not hiring someone who IS competent makes you smart somehow.

And finally, just to reinforce your foolishness, despite me quite clearly saying that "I was in the same situation as you", and that "I READ the documents", something you wouldn't need to do if you were paying for professional advice, you somehow got the idea that I pay accountancy fees.

p.p.s I didn't come here looking for a forum flame war, that's childish, so let's agree to not discuss things with each other from this point forward, it's embarrassing to say the least. Thank you.

As they say, you can lead a donkey to water, but you can't make him drink.

Seriously, you need to get a clue, and I don't say that to score points, but because you are potentially costing yourself a lot of money, and I wouldn't wish that on you.

[chris79]

p.s. I'm clearly less clueless than you since you use an accountant and I don't - work that one out.

p.p.s I didn't come here looking for a forum flame war, that's childish, so let's agree to not discuss things with each other from this point forward, it's embarrassing to say the least. Thank you.

[chris79]

Get a grip, like I said I didn't have an hour to read back to back and potentially waste that hour, so I asked a simple question which warranted a simple answer. Most people answered that by recommending an accountant, advice which I've weighed up and took on-board. There is no law however stating that I cannot should I choose to do so, do this myself, this is my choice, not your opinion.

I took objection to you telling me to read before posting, who are you - the forum police/judge/jury?? I don't share your view that everything to do with running a business is so complex I should not attempt it myself, nor should that stop me asking my own questions here on contractoruk. Like I stated earlier if you feel you are above and beyond the questions being asked from the likes of myself, feel free to bugger off elsewhere or recruit your own elite types and discuss the inner workings of the Treasury with them in private.

[dude69]

I don't want to sound rude here but it's people like you who would leave this forum bare, why bother having this forum if all information ever requested is available through search engines/guides?... All I wanted was a quick answer from someone in the same predicament, but yes I found all the information myself on Google but didn't have an hour to read it from cover to cover. Thanks for your input all the same Dude69.

Jesus christ, you're such a rude little ingrate.

I was in the same situation as you when my wife was pregnant. Guess what I did, I READ the documents. Surprise surprise, tax and benefits laws are not simple.

I have just pointed you towards the EXACT page you need to read and you are not prepared to read it. The ANSWER IS THERE. That was the most informative post in this thread. Say thank you.

What is wrong with you?

Why the hell do you think anyone would want to spend an hour of their time summarising complex issues to do with months worked in qualifying periods, taxable pay, NI thresholds, minimum SMP amounts, CT implications, qualifying periods relative to due dates, rule-changeovers, when you aren't prepared to it yourself.

To get this clear:

* you are not prepared to pay an accountant for advice on complex matters of taxation for which the penalties for mistake (Corporate taxation) are invariably severe
* despite not having any qualified counsel, you are not prepared to spend ANY AMOUNT of your time reading authoritative sources that only require you to sit on your lazy backside and read and comprehend (and if you don't understand, GET A CLUE AND PAY SOMEONE WHO DOES FFS), and you expect someone else to do it for you.

You should NOT rely on the word of other people that are not qualified. It is expensive, because they are often WRONG. And no, you cannot sue when 'dude69's' advice turns out to be faulty.

And just btw, if you weren't such a bone-idle timewaster, you could have found that I answered your question in 2006.

And if you had the courtesy to search first, you could have posted in that thread if there were any questions there - as another user did (possessed of rather more sense than you), only last month, bumping the thread, and adding to the discussion.

This forum would NOT be empty, it would be more useful, because instead of a whole set of posts on the same subject, in which increasingly weary people tire of posting the same answer provide less and less useful responses, there would be one USEFUL thread providing you with the information you seek.

But since you are clearly clueless, I doubt that you would ever read it.

[Ardesco]

We generally say ask an accountant because we are not accountants. We could offer advice but if it is wrong and you act upon it what use would that be?

Maternity pay is a bit of a sticky issue, your girlfriend will have to be working for your company for a set amount of time to be legible and she will also need to earn a set amount of money to maximise the amount of SMP that you can claim.

Without knowing the exact numbers we would not be able to give you an accurate answer anyway and I'm sure you don't want to plaster your private finances all over the net.

Generally speaking we avoid talking to HMRC because it can get them interested in your business. If they don't know about you and you pay your taxes like a good boy and keep everything above board they will generally speaking ignore you. If you are constantly phoning their help lines and asking advice some smart cookie may decide you are a prime candidate for an aspect investigation because you don't seem to be too sure so you may well have messed up and not paid them as much tax as you could have.

An accountant is a perfect buffer. He will ensure your finances are laid out on the most beneficial way possible, he will deal with any enquires from the tax man and provide all the right answers (the wrong answers could open you up for all sorts of investigations even if you have done nothing wrong) and finally he will save you money and give you peace of mind.

If you want to do all of this by yourself that is your prerogative, however us telling you to go to your accountant and get a professionals opinion is probably the best advice you will get on this board.

[chris79]

Jees chris, You are me.
My gf is also expecting in June this year.
I'm coming to the end of my first year as a ltd.
I've been asking the same questions recently.

However ,this is where we differ. I've been asking them of my accountant as I've just not got the time / expertese to handle them. My acct charges £75 a month for the company books and also throws in personal tax returns for free. I reckon that's not a bad deal, but 500 notes for an end of year is pretty cheap too, unless of course you've already paid for the acct throughout the year.

NN

Hi Nick,

Yeah in all fairness I hadn't really thought about the situation until today regarding the SMP leave of my girlfriend. From what I read on HMRC's website I guess it's not impossible to implement this myself, the easy option would be to get an accountant to do it for me. Personally I'm all for doing everything myself, I think that some people feel that an accountant is the only person cable of doing the work, so far this year nothing which has crossed my path has needed to be done by an accountant. The end of year is coming up in April for me, and I think I'll look over what is required before deciding if I need to pass this to my accountant. Even if I'm missing out on things like claiming for the paper in my printer and other bits, I'm still substantially better off than using an umbrella company paying full PAYE, and I'm happy with what I'm doing. I know people will slate me for this saying I should leave it to the experts, but all the same I have my own reasons for wanting to do things myself, which only seems to fan the flames of a lot of people on this forum who automatically assume that because you're asking questions you have no knowledge or understanding of what you are trying to do, and that the ONLY solution is to pay an accountant.

Anyway, back to the point of the original post, the general concensus is that an accountant should handle this, but I will speak to HMRC first as the dealings I've had with them and businesslink recently almost make out that you should be able to do these things alone if you wish to. The worst that can happen is I'll end up with a tax liability for money which I was never entitled to in the first place, with perhaps a fine.. but big deal in comparison to operating through an Umbrella.

**Friday rant over**

[oracleslave]

Jees chris, You are me.
My gf is also expecting in June this year.
I'm coming to the end of my first year as a ltd.
I've been asking the same questions recently.

However ,this is where we differ. I've been asking them of my accountant as I've just not got the time / expertese to handle them. My acct charges £75 a month for the company books and also throws in personal tax returns for free. I reckon that's not a bad deal, but 500 notes for an end of year is pretty cheap too, unless of course you've already paid for the acct throughout the year.

NN

expertise

[NickNick]

Well the truth is I have an accountant, but I've not used him as yet. I'm in my first year of running my own limited and so far I've done everything myself which in all honesty has been a useful learning curve.

It's coming up to end of year for my co in April, so I'm probably going to get my accountant to do this, he has suggested a charge of approx £400-500 to do my end of year, is this reasonable? He says it's a case of just handing over my sage accounts on a pendrive and he will do the rest.

I'm all for doing everything I can myself, as I prefer to be in absolute control of the situation, I've heard of people getting f**ked over etc because their accountant screwed up. So far it has been far from rocket science, but people keep telling me the end of year is the tricky one.

Jees chris, You are me.
My gf is also expecting in June this year.
I'm coming to the end of my first year as a ltd.
I've been asking the same questions recently.

However ,this is where we differ. I've been asking them of my accountant as I've just not got the time / expertese to handle them. My acct charges £75 a month for the company books and also throws in personal tax returns for free. I reckon that's not a bad deal, but 500 notes for an end of year is pretty cheap too, unless of course you've already paid for the acct throughout the year.

NN

[chris79]

I don't want to sound rude here but it's people like you who would leave this forum bare, why bother having this forum if all information ever requested is available through search engines/guides?... All I wanted was a quick answer from someone in the same predicament, but yes I found all the information myself on Google but didn't have an hour to read it from cover to cover. Thanks for your input all the same Dude69.

p.s. I have as much right to ask any question I like here, as you have to complain about it, you don't speak for everyone (and that's directed at all the other moaners who regularly slate people for asking 'newbie' questions - go and setup your own elite members only forum).

[dude69]

She's due to give birth in June, what is the situation here from an employment perspective, should I be giving her maternity leave from my own company, does the government contribute at all?

All the info you seek can be found on Google via various government websites. (HMRC, Business Link, Jobcentre Plus, Government Direct)

Please make some attempt to read before posting.

It's really not hard.

Read, in full:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/employee_pregnant.htm

That you have not done this already, suggests that you should be paying an accountant for his services. Google is not rocket science.

The answers, btw, are:

(1) if you like
(2) yes

HTH

[chris79]

Fair enough. But given the MSC thing, ask yourself how much else you don't know.

You may well be fine, I have no opinion either way - but we don't keep reccommending the First Timer guides and PCG membership for fun. This is a complex business these days.

Nah trust me, I'm not a complete newbie, I did my homework and research before I setup and I do have a good understanding of how my business works and what's all required, I didn't just form a company then start back tracking over what I should have done

What annoys me though is the way the Government handles things by drafting in ambiguous legislation in a hurry giving nobody time to prepare. Last year it was the MSC ruling, which quite rightly I felt the risk of running my own affairs outweighed the penalty of paying full PAYE if caught out. Now they are about to introduce income shifting legislation, which means to be sure I must now alter the structure and setup of my company, again through fear of being treated heavy handed by their own interpretation of my situation.

It's been said before on this forum, but the key here should be to make things simpler, not more complex so that people can get on with what they are doing rather than having to become amateur tax consultants / accountants / solicitors just to put bread on the table.

[malvolio]

Fair enough. But given the MSC thing, ask yourself how much else you don't know.

You may well be fine, I have no opinion either way - but we don't keep reccommending the First Timer guides and PCG membership for fun. This is a complex business these days.

[chris79]

So what you're saying is that you are new to the game and clearly have minimal understanding of some of the complexities (hence my earlier post - you haen't even understood the MSC rules), so you are refusing to get expert and qualified advice on how it works becuase you'd rather f*** it up all by yourself.

Well, OK, it's one way to do it. Can we assume you will take the same approach on Payment on Account for next year, depreciation allowances on capital, the upcoming Family Business Tax and all the other little trivia? Because get any of them wrong and you will lose thousands. Running a business is a little more complex than maintaining a General Ledger.

I take onboard what you are saying, yes I've only been in the game about 18 months, and only 12 months under my own direction. The fact is though my affairs have been far from complex until this point in time, money in, wages/expenses/dividends out. Running a payroll and ledger isn't difficult, and paying HMRC PAYE/NI quarterly isn't either... the only spanner in the works up till now has been the upcoming maternity leave of my girlfriend, and also the year end.

My general fear in the beginning (last April) was using a firm and having them being branded an MSC, therefore becoming part of their problem. On this basis I chose to go it alone, and so far so good, no problems... the accountant I have is a friend of the family and only does work by referrals for private individuals, I think on this basis he is safe to use. Yes I would agree perhaps I don't know the MSC situation in-depth, but up till now that hasn't been a problem or a factor in my ability to run my business. At this moment in time though I think given the changes going on in my business the advice being given here is correct and that an accountant would be the best way forward, which I do agree with!