self employment information please

dipsy

Hi

my husband is thinking of going onto contract work and doing his own books, need to have some information please

as far as I know he needs to set up a Ltd company - as this is what the agency have said, he had set one up couple of years ago, can he use this or do they "die" after so long?

Account to do his tax return, how much do they normally charge on average is it normally a set quarterly amount or a %?

It will be simply one invoice per week incoming, claiming fuel to go to the contract (not sure what else he can claim for - any advice welcomed) - it is an IT consultant role

Can he claim train ticket costs to go to meetings/meals/mobile phone costs etc

How do you go about paying your stamp?

Are there anythings we should be aware of, is it easy to set up?

many thanks in advance

Guest101

He doesn't have to have a ltd company, it depends on the level of income if its actually worth while or not.


Crucially will he actually be self employed - if he's working permanently for one employer, he cant send a deputy and cant set his own hours of work, he could be an employee.

dipsy

he was advised to set up a Ltd company, what is the pros/cons?

he will be doing contract work for say 2 months and then moving onto another company, he doesn't want to go under an umbrella company as they do charge quite a lot

motorguy

dipsy wrote: »

he was advised to set up a Ltd company, what is the pros/cons?

he will be doing contract work for say 2 months and then moving onto another company, he doesn't want to go under an umbrella company as they do charge quite a lot

Get him to hop on to the Contractor UK forum - lots of info and specific help over there.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/

He needs to get his head around IR35 legislation - and whether or not any specific contract is "inside" or "outside" of IR35. Big impact on the way you're paid and net pay.

Also, Public Sector contracting is changing as of 5th April. Almost all PS contracts going forward are likely to be "inside" IR35

Sub Forum on it...

http://forums.contractoruk.com/public-sector-ir35/

I've been contracting a couple of years. Going very well. This PS IR35 stuff though is going to create a lot of turbulence though....

If hes aiming for outside IR35 work (which he will want to) then a ltd company is the way to go.

My accountant charges me around £1200+VAT a year, but hes worth his weight in gold...