Invoicing for 2 days work - no LtdCo

[Hex]

Sorry to be pedantic, but this isn't completely true is it?
I know the likelihood of getting a contract in this way is next to none, but I thought it was more to do with employment regulations or some legal fineprint to do with their obligations to pay us. The result being that agencies 'prefer' not to use sole traders.

[waits for an agent to clear this one up...]

This is to do with the agency being liable to pay your self employed income tax if you don't and you don't have the money to pay when HMRC come knocking. They can then go after the agency. That's my understanding. Agencies don't want that risk so they then insist you work umbrella or limited.

[CheeseSlice]

The only/main reason we use Ltd companies is that the agencies aren't allowed to deal with us on a sole trader basis.

Sorry to be pedantic, but this isn't completely true is it?
I know the likelihood of getting a contract in this way is next to none, but I thought it was more to do with employment regulations or some legal fineprint to do with their obligations to pay us. The result being that agencies 'prefer' not to use sole traders.

[waits for an agent to clear this one up...]

[xoggoth]

Agree with last. Registering as self employed is for those who expect to make a consistent living out of something but sometimes odd opportunities arise. Just declare them on tax return. People I know who get very occasional paid work have done this and not had a problem.

[TykeMerc]

In reality there's nothing to stop you invoicing on a sole trader basis and declaring the income on your tax return, you don't need a Ltd if you're direct. The only/main reason we use Ltd companies is that the agencies aren't allowed to deal with us on a sole trader basis.

Just generate a one off invoice.

[Numpty]

I had a chance at a permie job last week and it didn't work out (hey, it was a chance) and did two days for which I'm getting a couple of hundred quid a day. So, a small banana.

I thought they were going to put me on the payroll but when we parted ways, the boss said "Just send us an invoice for two days at £200 and add your travel expenses and we'll pay that; it'll be quicker than the payroll". Which was nice.

My LtdCo went down the pan some time ago, So I can't invoice through My LtdCo as it doesn't exist.

I could get a brolly involved but there is the joining cost, processing cost, an inevitable delay of weeks during ID checks and P60s and P45s and them sitting on the paperwork. It'll cost me £ and time this way. And there's no contract. I'd like the money ASAP to cover bills.

I had thought of invoicing as Mr Numpty and pocketing the money, then declaring it on my tax return at the end of the year. That way I get to spend the tax in the meantime on shopping. But I'm not registered as self-employed - so can I do that? And won't they get stung for the employer's NI at some point in the future?

So, how do I get paid if I can't send an invoice? Any suggestions, please?

What happens when someone gets a cash-in-hand job and wants to be honest? (I daren't not be honest; the invoice means there'll be a paper trail!)

(Just to make matters more complicated, I'm signing on so I'll have to tell all the different government agencies about my 2 days work and I bet those buggers just deduct everything I've earned from my benefits. But that's another story.)