Reply to: Arm being twisted to go Permie

[xux42]

Yep - definately.

10%

Quick update. I did speak to my accountant and he was 100% for closing down the company if I go perm.
There will be a fair amount left after corporation tax etc. and I will be able to take nearly 10K tax free using my 09/10 CGT allowance and the rest at 18% flat.

Meanwhile the bureaucratic wheels slowly turn at the Client now I have agreed to consider permiedom....

[Ivor Bigun]

Is there a link to more info. of the tax advantages and why the revenue will consider the Co. an investment one?

Or should I talk to my Accountant?

Yep - definately.

10%

[Jog On]

Its not just about targets and salary, its also about gaining recognition for promotion - so pushing the employer to set / agree targets that make you more valuable to the organisation and towards gaining a promotion - if that is what you want of course.

If I was a permie I'd probably want that.

However I fully intend never to go perm ever again.

[lilelvis2000]

If the company invests in you...that is they send you on conferences, training and you get to work on the 'coolest' projects..why not?

You can always leave.

[tim123]

Is there a link to more info. of the tax advantages and why the revenue will consider the Co. an investment one?

They wont, unless you actually use it to do some investment (and no, keeping the balance in a normal savings account doesn't count).

tim

[xux42]

This is what you do.
- Wind up company and grab GB's tax advantages before they disappear.
DO NOT KEEP THE COMPANY RUNNING - or the IR will think you're an investment company.

Is there a link to more info. of the tax advantages and why the revenue will consider the Co. an investment one?

Or should I talk to my Accountant?

[Ivor Bigun]

Thanks everybody. Useful to see that its viable to keep the Ltd. Co. going alongside.

I guess I'd better talk seriously to my client about possible Permie terms. According to the Contractor UK, 50% of Contractors are now looking at this as a way through the recession.
It doesn't look like I will have to make a final decision until after Tax Year End anyway.

This is what you do.

- Take permie job and look really keen - If you're going to do it - do it 100% or be seen to be! Try to accept job in new tax year.

- Wind up company and grab GB's tax advantages before they disappear.
DO NOT KEEP THE COMPANY RUNNING - or the IR will think you're an investment company.
Take the money and invest wisely - pay mortgage off or whatever.

[xux42]

Thanks everybody. Useful to see that its viable to keep the Ltd. Co. going alongside.
Sorry I mentioned Appraisals now as it rather hijacked the thread. Its just that they got a bit repetitive being a journeyman Programmer/Analyst with no interest in progression into management. Anyway, you are right they can be used constructively.
I guess I'd better talk seriously to my client about possible Permie terms. According to the Contractor UK, 50% of Contractors are now looking at this as a way through the recession.
It doesn't look like I will have to make a final decision until after Tax Year End anyway.

[MPwannadecentincome]

I agree with what all three of you say.

But none of this make the meeting itself the problem.

If you want to develop managerially OR technically, the appraisal meeting is the place to express this interest and plan the road map to achieve it.

If you don't want to push your career forward, you just say so at the appraisal.

OTOH, if you do want to push your career forward and the company don't have (or don't use properly) the appraisal process, you are stuffed. Unless, that is, you are the manager's buddy (and I am sure we all know of cases where the manager's buddy did get promoted even though they were technically useless).

tim

Quite - and there are 101 reasons why the appraisal system is cr** in big companies - but that is the subject of another thread!

[Beefy198]

Only you really know what to do. This forum can only help so much.

[tim123]

that's one of the main reasons i became a contr....ahem....started my own consultancy company

anywhere i have worked permy that have used these kinds of systems have been political nightmares

I agree with what all three of you say.

But none of this make the meeting itself the problem.

If you want to develop managerially OR technically, the appraisal meeting is the place to express this interest and plan the road map to achieve it.

If you don't want to push your career forward, you just say so at the appraisal.

OTOH, if you do want to push your career forward and the company don't have (or don't use properly) the appraisal process, you are stuffed. Unless, that is, you are the manager's buddy (and I am sure we all know of cases where the manager's buddy did get promoted even though they were technically useless).

tim

[jmo21]

Its not just about targets and salary, its also about gaining recognition for promotion - so pushing the employer to set / agree targets that make you more valuable to the organisation and towards gaining a promotion - if that is what you want of course.

that's one of the main reasons i became a contr....ahem....started my own consultancy company

anywhere i have worked permy that have used these kinds of systems have been political nightmares

[MPwannadecentincome]

Isn't it also where they appraise how much of a salary increase you do or don't get based on how well you've met your objectives?

Last time I had one I met all my objectives and got the maximum whopping 4%

Hmm go perm or sign on... could make for an interesting poll!

Its not just about targets and salary, its also about gaining recognition for promotion - so pushing the employer to set / agree targets that make you more valuable to the organisation and towards gaining a promotion - if that is what you want of course.

[Jog On]

I've really never have understood this reason.

Quite apart for the fact that it's a once a year event, appraisals are supposed to work both ways. They are meant to be used by the company to provide you with targets, discuss your rewards for meeting those targets, and for you to get the company to remove the barriers that are preventing you from meeting those targets.

If the company use the process as a waste of time meeting (which my last permi company did) then why get hung up about it.

But if they use the process properly, it should work to your advantage.

tim

Isn't it also where they appraise how much of a salary increase you do or don't get based on how well you've met your objectives?

Last time I had one I met all my objectives and got the maximum whopping 4%

Hmm go perm or sign on... could make for an interesting poll!

[Doggy Styles]

You probably need to ask yourself - are you really a contractor, or a permy in all but name?

Being a contractor is not just doing the same, long-term secure job for more money. The extra money a contractor earns covers the insecurity, overheads, and bother of looking for work. Contractors move on all the time.

Of course, if there is no other work about in these troubled times, you can take the pragmatic decision to go permy to keep the wolf from the door.

Mind you, you have to question why the firm wants you permy when it could get rid of you cheaply as a contractor if it came to the crunch.

Best wishes!