One man Ltd Company: Director Salary

[kaiser78]

I run a one man IT Company. How I can take my salary ?

I started my company in April 2009. My first tax year is April- March.

Can I take fixed amount salary for the year April09-March 10 1000 pound .

Assuming this is genuine, have a read through the First Timers guide on the RHS and also use the search function which will provide you with lots of basic information. And before you even decide what to have with your corn flakes [edited !] tomorrow morning get yourself sorted with an accountant FIRST THING.

[northernladuk]

This has got to be a troll??? Seriously. As Mal says, some level of intelligence has to be expected.

Anyone do an IP check on this for us?

[Wanderer]

I run a one man IT Company. How I can take my salary ?

I started my company in April 2009. My first tax year is April- March.

Can I take fixed amount salary for the year April09-March 10 1000 pound .

Welcome!

As others have said, you really need an accountant to sort your stuff out for you. There isn't an alternative, there is no way around it. The paperwork you need to file is way too complex and you will get in a shed load of trouble if you get it wrong. Trust us on that one. That said, you aren't in any great strife after just 1 year of trading, but now it's time to sort out your company and personal tax affairs out and figure out how much tax you owe.

Firstly you have to understand if you are in or out of IR35. Most people are outside, the Inland Revenue would like you to think that you are inside. There are companies which will review your contract for you if you want a reasonably definitive answer.

If you are outside IR35 then you should take about 6000 as salary and the rest as dividends to minimise your tax. If this takes you into the higher rate tax bracket then consider if you can do an income split with your spouse (if you have one and they don't earn income).

If you are inside IR35 then you have to take the money as salary and pay a load of tax. See the calculators here. There are other options. If you are older and you earn a lot of money (ie into the higher rate tax bracket) then you may want to put a load of money into a personal pension and avoid a lot of tax.

To reiterate: You have to get an accountant and they will talk you through the options above. The PCG can recommend one to you if you don't have one in mind. This is NOT a DIY job.

Good luck!

[chef]

I still think that if you take on the legal resposnbility of being a company director, is it really too much to ask that you at least find out the basics of what you're doing? Espeically after a year's trading? As your questions imply, the OP could be in a whole heap of trouble without even knowing it.

I'm pretty sure that the OP is already in a heap of trouble.

Ahhh you guys, you spoiled my fun, I atleast wanted to know how much mailsmsi doesn't know and how badly he's "run" his company for the first year before suggesting that he is solely in it for the glory and giving us true businesses a bad name and that maybe he has a legal responsibility to find out such basic questions before coming onto a forum that isn't names "cowboy companies r us". I was also planning on asking him if he is so cavalier about other financial aspects of his life such as buying a house without the need for a survey or even estate agents and that was his mortgage signed without even looking at the APR and or small print, did he bother to take a driving test or simply steal a car and start driving, it's the same thing you end up with as those that do abide by the rules but this way you save a whole load more cash and then you can claim you never knew that the "stealing cars and driving with no licence" laws existed, I mean who needs rules and laws anyway?? or maybe just do it for a year then go onto a "drivers Uk" forum and ask if you need a licence to drive and is it ok to steal one rather than pay for it?

In short, if you are not a sockpuppet and are real, I would pick up the phone RIGHT NOW and call an accountant to get your mess sorted because HMRC are not very accomodating to those who don't bother to abide by the law and if you've been trading for 1 year+ without even knowing how to pay yourself correctly then my guess is you are in a lot of trouble. Personally though I think you're the figment of someone's imagination.. 2/10 for the effort

[cojak]

I'm pretty sure that the OP is already in a heap of trouble.

And would suggest that he researches the tax situation from official sources and get himself an accountant to sort it out for him, there'll be too much to do/correct by just asking us for the answers.

[malvolio]

Always good to help people - but I still think that if you take on the legal resposnbility of being a company director, is it really too much to ask that you at least find out the basics of what you're doing? Espeically after a year's trading? As your questions imply, the OP could be in a whole heap of trouble without even knowing it.

Nothing against the OP personally, of course, but it doesn't help us trying to persuade whichever Hectors are reading this forum that we are doing this for genuine business reasons, does it?

[cojak]

Nice!

I had to read it twice before I got the nuance...

[chef]

(Thanks for taking up the baton, Chef...)

not a problem, always willing to help and advise as good as (if not better than in some peoples eyes*) a fully qualified paid for accountant

<basil fawlty mode>
What's the point in gaining years of experience and doing all that research, making mistakes along the way and paying a fortune for solicitors/accountants/financial advisors and PCG membership if I can't help others not fall into the same pitfalls with a little bit of free advice eh?, it saves them time looking it up or doing any kind of research for themselves and it helps me waste my time while I'm here slaving away at work while allowing those who just want to earn decent money without any hastle of "running a company" aspirations to do so with a one-stop shop for all their questions.. just hope they appreciate that's all, don't you think?
</basil fawlty mode>

Chef, feeling in a good mood

"Work -> Invoice -> Spend the lot -> repeat, worry about tax and stuff later" that's my motto


* For the benefit of all, and to cover myself, I am not an accountant and so therefore I would recommend double checking any advice given with a qualified accountant rather than taking the word of a chef on an anonymous IT board, even if that advice comes from years of experience and comes free..

[cojak]

(Thanks for taking up the baton, Chef...)

[chef]

I run a one man IT Company. How I can take my salary ?

I started my company in April 2009. My first tax year is April- March.

Can I take fixed amount salary for the year April09-March 10 1000 pound .

Hi, welcome

Just a few questions to understand your situation better:

How have you been living for the past year? i.e where have you received income from to pay bills, buy food etc.

You have been in business for 1 year and given the basic level of your question am I correct in assuming you don't have an accountant?

Do you have a company bank account or you are paid directly into your personal bank account?

If you know it then are you inside or outside of IR35? (if you don't know it doesn't really affect your business that much), it's simply a formality in knowing how to respond to HMRC (the tax people)

Finally, are you VAT registered? if so have you completed a VAT return yet?

If you could answer the above we can better help understand how you operate your business and advise accordingly.

Thanks and welcome to the forum

Chef

[cojak]

Financial matters - a summary

[malvolio]

Thud...thud...thud...

[mailsmsi]

I run a one man IT Company. How I can take my salary ?

I started my company in April 2009. My first tax year is April- March.

Can I take fixed amount salary for the year April09-March 10 1000 pound .