Self Employed help please

Nikkisun

Sorry if this is in the wrong place but not really sure where else to put it!

Hubby used to work for EDF fitting electric meters, he was employed through an agency and paid by Co-Op Construction (through an Umbrella Company I am assuming). His van was supplied through EDF and his petrol costs were also paid by them.

He has since been laid off and today has been offered a position with a company called Metertec which is basically the same job (fitting meters).

He will be employed on a self-employed basis and has to pay his own petrol and supply a van. However he has the option of leasing a van through Metertec for a fixed cost each week (still has to pay his own petrol). We would probably go for this option as we are currently not in a position to buy our own vehicle.

Now come the questions:

1. Rather than have the hassle of tax returns, saving money for tax bills etc can he still be paid through Co-Op Construction (or a similar company), therefore negating the need to register as self employed?

2. If the above is not possible where does he stand with claiming tax relief for the leased vehicle?

3. If he can claim tax relief for the van can he also claim for the petrol costs?

If you're still reading this then thank you very much!
If you're able to answer then thank you even more!!

thebaldwindowfitter

not sure about the umbrella company .as self employed all his running costs for business on the vehicle can be reclaimed along with any tools stationary lighting and heating at his home office! while doing his books and time sheets etc

J66

Be aware: I worked for this Company in the past and at no point made enough money to pay for a hire vehicle, (luckily used my own). You have to pay for your own fuel and taxes, find your own work by doing letterdrops during the day, evenings and weekends, (all unpaid). One memorable week I travelled 600 miles and earned £74 before fuel and tax. Consequently I left their employ along with many other disgruntled engineers.

butlinsmum

Sounds very much like a company trying to avoid any legal responsibilities for employees by classing them as self employed

butlinsmum x

judas_2

surely if you are self employed, then it is up to you to go out and get the work done in order to earn. I know people that work for Metertec and earn easily £800 per week on recerts.

J66

Well done to them.
Probably got all the additional work from those engineers that couldn't live on £100 a week:rolleyes:

sparkybedford

would not let metertec fit a 13amp plug for me, how can companys allow them near electricity meters.

chrismac1

1. Rather than have the hassle of tax returns, saving money for tax bills etc can he still be paid through Co-Op Construction (or a similar company), therefore negating the need to register as self employed?

It sounds from the other posts as though he may well have a status issue regarding false self-employment. The good news is that whilst Labour were very aggressive on this - also known as iR35 - the new Government have it under review. So you can forget about it until they've finished that. Meanwhile, the umbrella companies don't save tax, just carry out the admin. work and charge for it. I see no reason why you can't go through one if you don't want the admin. hassle and are OK with their fees.

2. If the above is not possible where does he stand with claiming tax relief for the leased vehicle?

You can claim the leasing costs as a business expense.

3. If he can claim tax relief for the van can he also claim for the petrol costs?

Yes. if it's 100% business use he can put all costs - insruance, road tax, petrol, repairs through as a business expense. If it is not 100% business he can either assess a % of private use or - recommended unless running a very costly van - claim 40 pence per mile for the first 10,000 and 25 pence after that.
If you're still reading this then thank you very much!
If you're able to answer then thank you even more!!

If the substance of some of the above posts is true, it's quite likely this outfit will have had - or will have - trouble with HMRC. So your husband should take care to keep good records of all business income and expenses so he never becomes "collateral damage" in the course of an inspection from HMRC.

spamwam

A lot of people have mentioned Metertec, but I currently work for them and dont have any problems. I earn a good wage, dont have any complaints there.

The office staff are not only friendly, they are always willing to help. The totti is not bad either!! ;-)

Only compliant I have is the parking in London on jobs, its a nightmare and I have to pay my own parking.

gte64

its only my personal view but i would keep this company at arms length (if your arms reach the sun). I worked there for five weeks and it cost me over £1000. So you could say it cost me £200 a week to do their work. You sign them over your rights on day one and when I left the money they owed me stayed in their bank account. Then came the bill for training. Don't want to even go there. I know of four people that left all of which probably lost two weeks wages and probaby got an invoice for something. I have it from a reliable source that people leave all the time because they can't earn a wage!!! Massive mistake on my part. Would be interesting to get other peoples feedback on them

J66

Received a letter today from the administrators of Metertec - not too surprised they've gone bust, bunch of rogues. Hopefully they will not re-appear under another name!