'A warning to freelancers and the self-employed everywhere' blog discussion

John_Pierpoint

There needs to be more educational advertising - especially as many people are being forced onto self employment by the current economic situation - even if you are making half of minimum wage that is better than rotting on Job Seekers Allowance.

The shock is not just the potential income tax but ALSO that weekly tax that goes under the guise of part 2 and 4 National Insurance - As others have pointed out it comes as a nasty shock having to play catch up and pay 18 months tax in the January following the 4th of April of your first year or part year of self employment.

Don't hope it will go away, it won't.

If you are a bit confused someone on the "saving tax" part of the forum will put you right.

miller

LilSpender wrote: »

That's why all the 'Tax evoiding' IT contractors are limited companies, its nothing to do with tax, no one will hire them otherwise. Having the ltd company there means HMRC can't bypass it and have to pursue the contractor for tax, they can't turn on the client.

Why don't HMRC sort out IR35 instead of the low hanging fruit like Avon reps. I almost laughed when I read they were going after Ann Summers organisers.

It's easier to bash the little guys who don't have the means to defend themselves and arrange sweetheart deals with big corporations who have the means to bite back.

Of course, we are all in this together. Rant over.

John_Pierpoint

This is not meant as a racist remark, but migrants can take over a £100 company and be safely back home before HMRC catch up with the missing accounts and taxes - unless you know better, as the incident I am thinking of was a few years ago now.

togo

I got a terrible shock as a new pensioner when a Tax Demand arrived arrived for over £2,600. My meagre income for the year from a one bed cottage rental had been spent on necessary improvements to the cottage between tenants. I had a very small pension from my husband who had died suddenly and a mini part-time job invigilating as well as some money owed by someone who died and I didn't claim off their family. I had had to take my lump sum pension of £10,000 (2 years delayed) to live on, pay funeral expenses etc., and now see it was not a good idea to defer my pension because I have lost so much in Tax. Thank you for this website. I will try to read it more often!

John_Pierpoint

We are not really on the right thread but what sort of pension was it that got "hammered" for tax because you had deferred it?

Have you had your 65th birthday and if so roughly when (month and year will do).

antrobus

MSE_Helen wrote: »

...

Read Martin's "A warning to freelancers and the self-employed everywhere" Blog.

..

Oddly enough the link to the PA article in the blog is now broken - The article requested is no longer available - so here's the Daily Mail take on the subject - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2096071/Miquita-Oliver-faces-bankruptcy-unpaid-tax-bill.html

"Her publicist said: 'We can confirm that Miquita Oliver filed for bankruptcy in November 2011'."

bangersnmash

"TV presenter Miquita Oliver, 27, has sadly gone bankrupt, owing the taxman £174,000"

"A bankruptcy order was slapped on the TV presenter in respect of the aforementioned amount back on 11 November last year. Geoff Carton-Kelly of Baker Tilly’s restructuring and recovery division was subsequently appointed Trustee by Secretary of State.

He said: “Investigating and recovering assets for the benefits of creditors is the primary role of the Trustee in Bankruptcy.

“At this stage it is too early to comment on the level of Miss Oliver’s assets and the likely return to creditors.”

http://www.insolvencynews.com/article/13357/personal/tv-presenter-miquita-oliver-declared-bankrupt

So she's had it away with £174k and HMRC paid her bankruptcy fee of £400 or £700 or whatever it is.

So if she's got some property that they can get off her then possibly some or all of the debt will be recouped. So if she's got a property then she'll have the nuisance and sadness of having it sold off over her head. So that is her being penalised - a bit. But not much. Probably worth the risk for £174k. She'll just go and live somewhere else, won't she. Won't make much difference to her, will it.

However, if she hasn't got any assets as such and, for instance, if she's only renting or staying with family or friends or at someone else's place, or has got her assets hidden, such as signing them over to a relative or friend or acquaintance, and or keeping them offshore, or some diamonds buried in a hole in the ground etc then she's quids in.

Crime pays in Failed Britain. Fill yer boots everyone, it's free money for all! So just keep your assets hidden or don't have any and you can nick as much as you like with impunity, virtually no punishment at all. There's no debtors prison in UK and only very slack mostly negligent, incompetent, failed government, police, justice system and HMRC - it's wide open, easy peasy.

So my interpretation of this is that it's not a warning, in fact here you're publicising the fact that it's easy to steal large amounts of money and quite likely get away with it with little or no punishment. Quite the reverse of your intended message.

The worst that happens to you if you get caught is that you might have to pay off some of it, if you've got a visible asset they can seize such as property. And that's it. Nothing else. No debtors prison, not even for six figure tax evasion as in this instance. Not even three months in prison, not even three days in prison. No prison at all. No transportation to the colonies. No being put in the stocks for people to throw stones and rotten fruit at you, no flogging or hanging, drawing and quartering and head on a stick. No breaking rocks in the hot sun on the chain gang for twenty years. Not even for ten minutes. Nope, no punishment, hardly at all!

ListysDad

There is also another serious problem lurking in the shadows of self employment...

Traditionally, as a self employed person, the accountants role is to minimise your income in order to minimise tax liability. However, when you now need to re-mortgage or get a mortgage that whole system works against you as your provable income will have dropped to the point where you can't apparently afford the shoes you stand in!

I've no idea whether the treasury have been very clever or its simply fate, but in future if the self employed need a mortgage they will need to start taking more from their businesses and as a consequence start paying much more tax...

paulfoel

Glad Miquita Oliver has been made bankrupt though. Would have been better if she'd been jailed though.

Don't feel sorry for her. This woman earned £1/2 million quid, couldn't be bothered to find out about tax and spent the lot. Now she faces the consequences.

There are families throughout britain who legally pay tax all year. Even self-employed people who are struggling manage to sort it all out properly but this woman lives the life of riley using money thats not hers....