Reply to: Becoming a permie take 3

[Willapp]

Seems like an obvious perm choice especially since you're not a die-hard contractor. You can always go contracting again when/if you get sick of it.

Is your plan B likely to grow/continue or is it a one-off thing? A perm job and working on plan B in your spare time is a good way to go possibly and skip contracting entirely, but make 100% sure your employer has no claim and that they know and are OK about it - explicitly get it mentioned in writing.

Yeah I think you're right, it was the decision I was heading towards, I guess I just wanted to hear it from others that it's the right thing to do. I would definitely consider contracting again in the future but I like the idea of some job security for the next couple of years while I get plan B moving.

As far as plan B goes, the current revenue isn't likely to change in the short term, but let's just say it's part of a wider plan which could earn enough (just) for me to be able to pick and choose when/how I work.

[d000hg]

Seems like an obvious perm choice especially since you're not a die-hard contractor. You can always go contracting again when/if you get sick of it.

Is your plan B likely to grow/continue or is it a one-off thing? A perm job and working on plan B in your spare time is a good way to go possibly and skip contracting entirely, but make 100% sure your employer has no claim and that they know and are OK about it - explicitly get it mentioned in writing.

[Willapp]

If you've only had one client, then you only have one place of work, so you can't claim. Any expenses already claimed should be declared as a BIK and taxed accordingly.

Ah I see, had forgotten about that. I wonder if my Plan B can come to the rescue here - until last month I was operating the Plan B using the same Ltd. (it's still IT related work) so technically I've had 2 clients although the Plan B is 100% remote work so I have never travelled anywhere for it.

Plan B is now in its own Ltd. though so that might screw things up for this tax year?

Obviously I'll go through all this with my accountant anyway, but as they say forewarned is forearmed!

[TheFaQQer]

I'll definitely chat to my accountant about this. My belief (/hope) was that the mileage I've claimed so far is legitimate as until now I had no intention of staying here long term (i.e. past the 24 month rule) so I don't know whether the historical claims become invalid just because I've now decided I want to stay here?

As to whether I should continue claiming mileage between now and July (or as/when I sign the perm contract), I guess that's another matter.

If you've only had one client, then you only have one place of work, so you can't claim. Any expenses already claimed should be declared as a BIK and taxed accordingly.

[Willapp]

Is your new employer okay with the Plan B?

I think if I was guaranteed £850pm from the Plan B, I think I'd probably take the gamble on having that plus any contracts I could pick up. But otherwise the permie option is probably better.

I've not mentioned it to them as currently it's not really any of their business. I guess when it comes to it I'll have to check the employment contract for clauses regarding other work and if necessary negotiate these out, but the Plan B (at the moment) is really just an out-of-hours support contract and the client already knows I can't deal with issues during the 9-5 day so from their perspective it won't make any difference really.

Again though the MD at current gig is a very approachable guy and I can't honestly see him having an issue with it so I'll probably bring it up when I have the discussion about going permie just so there's full transparency.

[Willapp]

If not the IR35 status, then the status of any travel and subsistence claims will be pretty clear and will need to be taxed.

I'll definitely chat to my accountant about this. My belief (/hope) was that the mileage I've claimed so far is legitimate as until now I had no intention of staying here long term (i.e. past the 24 month rule) so I don't know whether the historical claims become invalid just because I've now decided I want to stay here?

As to whether I should continue claiming mileage between now and July (or as/when I sign the perm contract), I guess that's another matter.

[Willapp]

They probably already know mate! This is a forum .. your posts are public .. Sorry....

Haha maybe, although I doubt anyone here reads a contractor forum but it's a risk I've taken - to be honest it's quite likely even if I accept the job now I could negotiate to finish my current contract first anyway so it's not really a big concern.

[Willapp]

Taking a 12 month role that the client now wants you perm you could argue you haven't tried contracting at all. You have been a disguised permie and your IR35 status could be very questionable.

Yeah I know what you're saying, that is a bit of a worry, although to be fair the whole time I've been here contracting I have been treated very differently to the perm team and I believe I have all the right things in place to be 'outside' IR35, but you're right I don't know whether me taking a perm role would then undermine these things or not - in theory I don't see why it should, since I would then be treated differently to how I am now, and would have to conform with how the perm team operate which will be quite different.

Also I know it's not the right way to think about it, but I'm kinda assuming that HMRC aren't quite so likely to investigate me for the sake of a 15 month contract of which the tax is only likely to be a few £k. Hopefully they've bigger fish to fry than little old me...

Will your contract allow you to go perm is the question you want to be asking right now.

It's a direct contract with the client so I don't see any issues here - there are no third parties involved so no restrictive covenants to worry about. I simply complete my contract at the end of July and start an employment contract immediately afterwards.

[TheFaQQer]

Taking a 12 month role that the client now wants you perm you could argue you haven't tried contracting at all. You have been a disguised permie and your IR35 status could be very questionable.

If not the IR35 status, then the status of any travel and subsistence claims will be pretty clear and will need to be taxed.

[VectraMan]

Is your new employer okay with the Plan B?

I think if I was guaranteed £850pm from the Plan B, I think I'd probably take the gamble on having that plus any contracts I could pick up. But otherwise the permie option is probably better.

[northernladuk]

a) Part of me feels like I've not given contracting enough of a chance, and as I've only been at the one client I can't really say I've got a true experience from it and whether it would work for me long term.

Taking a 12 month role that the client now wants you perm you could argue you haven't tried contracting at all. You have been a disguised permie and your IR35 status could be very questionable.

Will your contract allow you to go perm is the question you want to be asking right now.

[rurffy]

Yeah I think you're right, you've all helped me realise it's definitely the right choice, thanks.

Now I just need to bide my time so they don't try and cut my current contract short so I probably won't let them know my decision straight away - there's been no timescale put forward on it, just a "there's a permie role here if you want it" kinda thing.

Now to convince the missus she doesn't need all those new shoes...

They probably already know mate! This is a forum .. your posts are public .. Sorry....

[rurffy]

Yeah exactly. My parents think that the permie role is a good option - my Dad spent 40+ years at the same company and made a good point that a lot of job satisfaction is down to a combination of challenging/interesting work but also the people around you and it's definitely a good crowd here so I can't see office politics becoming an issue anytime soon.

Part of my worry is that the missus and I want to book a 2 week trip to the USA at the beginning of September (the dates are kinda fixed) to visit family/friends so I'm worried that if my contract does finish at the end of July I could end up with no work in August and then an expensive trip followed by the prospect of lining something up for my return - which could put a sizeable dent in the warchest. Take the permie role and I'm guaranteed work in August plus I get paid while I'm away and there's no stress of worrying about finding something new when I get back - is that just being short-sighted or being sensible, I can't decide??!

You just answered your own questions.! Good work ...

[Willapp]

Yeah I think you're right, you've all helped me realise it's definitely the right choice, thanks.

Now I just need to bide my time so they don't try and cut my current contract short so I probably won't let them know my decision straight away - there's been no timescale put forward on it, just a "there's a permie role here if you want it" kinda thing.

Now to convince the missus she doesn't need all those new shoes...

[BolshieBastard]

Yeah exactly. My parents think that the permie role is a good option - my Dad spent 40+ years at the same company and made a good point that a lot of job satisfaction is down to a combination of challenging/interesting work but also the people around you and it's definitely a good crowd here so I can't see office politics becoming an issue anytime soon.

Part of my worry is that the missus and I want to book a 2 week trip to the USA at the beginning of September (the dates are kinda fixed) to visit family/friends so I'm worried that if my contract does finish at the end of July I could end up with no work in August and then an expensive trip followed by the prospect of lining something up for my return - which could put a sizeable dent in the warchest. Take the permie role and I'm guaranteed work in August plus I get paid while I'm away and there's no stress of worrying about finding something new when I get back - is that just being short-sighted or being sensible, I can't decide??!

TBH, its a no brainer. Take the permie role and in 12 months you can see if the contract market has picked up (or got worse) and make a decision to stay or move back to contracting.