how do I pay my PA

sillysladey

Hello All,

I have a PA who does a bit of work for me around her day job, however she just approached me and asked if she can be paid as an employee and pay appropriate tax so the income can be counted towards her mortgage application. I pay her around £400 per month. I am not a limited company or anything like that I am employed myself and she helps me run my house, pay my bills and arrange my monthly travel/hotel booking etc and manages my diary.
Are there any companies out there where I can run a single payroll for her as I would really like to help her out?

Many Thanks

Stevie_Palimo

http://quotes.approvedpayrollservices.co.uk/best-quotes?cid=56b9ca4ac61d0&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=payroll%20companies&utm_campaign=81576631&targetid=kwd-17401410404&keyword=payroll%20companies&keywordid=17401410404&adgroup=3813756268&campaign=81576631&query=payroll%20companies&matchtype=e&bidmatchtype=be&ad=11951812146&device=c&network=s&ismobile=0&issearch=1

whitewing

Do you have an accountant? They may be be able to do your payroll.

sillysladey

I don't, I am employed myself so do not have the need for one.
Many thanks

Pennywise

By putting her on the payroll, you become an employer which means you need employer's liability insurance, contracts of employment, etc., so it's not just the payroll. You also become liable to other employment rights such as SSP, SMP, redundancy, etc.

There are a few firms that specialise in employment/payroll for nannies and carers etc which do the payroll, and also offer the insurance and pro-forma employment contracts. You could google for nanny payroll or carer payroll and see what firms come up. I seem to remember there's a firm called nannytax, but never used them so can't comment or recommend them.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Unless your relationship with her is one that could be deemed as employment (in which case she should be on payroll), rather than self-employment, then there's pretty much no benefit to you doing this but there is a lot of hassle as Pennywise has mentioned.

Her mortgage application isn't really your problem. There are mortgage providers who will consider self-employment income but she may need to speak to a broker.

Darksparkle

If she is your employee and she has another job you should have registered as an employer with HMRC at the time.

booksurr

this sounds like you are about to open a can of worms.

If the only work she does is your "PA work" then it is very possible that technically speaking she is your employee anyway, since she may not have a valid self employed business of her own. Does she invoice you for her work or do you pay an agency for her services?

just because she has (to date) called herself "self employed" does not make her self employed. There are things called "badges of trade" which are tests to determine if someone is actually an employee in the first place. Sounds like you and she need to check her status anyway ...

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-status-indicator

TheCyclingProgrammer

Darksparkle wrote: »

If she is your employer and she has another job you should have registered as an employer with HMRC at the time.

OP hasn't given enough information to determine if the PA should have been treated as an employee from the outset.

That said, if she is charging a monthly fee for a range of services, he tells her what he needs doing but doesn't control the way in which she does the work, she's able to work her own hours and manage herself, work for other people etc. then its very likely that self-employment is the correct status as it sounds more like a contract for services rather than a contract of service to me.

We know that employment status is not a black and white thing, but the PA's status should be based on established tests, not the fact that she wants to be paid one particular way to help her mortgage application.

Darksparkle

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

OP hasn't given enough information to determine if the PA should have been treated as an employee from the outset.

That said, if she is charging a monthly fee for a range of services, he tells her what he needs doing but doesn't control the way in which she does the work, she's able to work her own hours and manage herself, work for other people etc. then its very likely that self-employment is the correct status as it sounds more like a contract for services rather than a contract of service to me.

We know that employment status is not a black and white thing, but the PA's status should be based on established tests, not the fact that she wants to be paid one particular way to help her mortgage application.

I did say "if"

TheCyclingProgrammer

Darksparkle wrote: »

I did say "if"

Its a pretty big "if".