Newly self employed - claimable expense advice needed please

Hoddie_2

The old duality of purpose rules are no longer relevant for 2005/06 onwards in the way that us "oldies" were taught.

Certainly news to me. They've kept very quiet about it but then you'd expect them to. It will be interesting to see the print on the 2006/07 SA return, to see whether the note about being unable to claim for everyday clothing is removed or not.

Cook_County

magic_pants wrote:

As mentioned before it sounds mighty likely you may fall under the dreaded "contractors tax"...IR35. I'd check that out for starters.

IR35 is not even remotely relevant because you have not set up your own company.

Employment status sounds decidedly "dodgy" though in this case! It sounds as if you should be speaking to an employment lawyer since your employer is failing on several employment law grounds, tax amongst them.

Do you invoice the company? Do you charge them VAT on your invoices?

purplewing

Hi all
There is no way you can be self employed as various people have said. I personally think the redundancy may also have been paid illegally as you say you still work for the same company and nothing has changed.
Other people have mentioned IR35- but this only applies to Ltd companies or partnerships.
For those in IR35 type situaltions there is to be an announcement in the budget which will close this dividend v pay isssue according to todays paper.

Cherez

Now I am totally confused, I spoke to the Inland Revenue at the end of last week, explained the full position and the guy said that I am definitely self employed, i reckon I need to get this in writing perhaps. Also, when I discussed clothing with him, he said that if you wear clothing that you would not normally wear outside work, e.g. perhaps having to wear dark clothes, that it is classed as 'uniform' and is claimable. I seem to get a different story from any organisation that i speak to!! I really need this to be cleared up.

Thanks for your advice and help, its appreciated

WHA

Hi there, I wouldn't worry about the employment versus self employment argument above. It is your employer's problem not yours. As you are a sole trader, HMRC won't come asking you to prove you are self employed - they MAY WELL ask your employer to prove you are self employed though. If HMRC decide you are really an employee, then it is your employer who gets the bill for the additional tax and NIC that they should have deducted from your wages - they won't come knocking on your door for the shortfall. My advice would be to continue on the basis that you are self employed - that is what your "employer" has told you and is the basis of the payments being made by them to you. As for whether they are "happy" that you do the work, that is also irrelevant, it is what the contract, if any, says that matters.

I certainly don't think there is a need to get employment law advice if you are happy with the situation - I suppose there is the possibility that you should have been paid more redundancy pay or should have been kept on as a permanent employee with continuous rights to SSP, SMP, holiday pay, etc, but presumably they are paying you more as self employed to compensate for their savings. I would let it lie if you are happy with the status quo.

As for clothing, I would go with Cook_County's advice as time and time again, he proves to be the most up-to-date contributor on this board.

Cherez

Thank you very much for that. and to you all for your advice.

Samantha

h4nym

Just one other thing, it's extremely unlikely that you'll be able to get your lunch money classed as a business expense!

H