Been told to go self employed

mranon14

My (employer) has told me I need to go self employed due to tax reasons.

Up until now I've always been paid cash in hand. Due to an audit my employer has now decided they're better off with me being self employed.

I'm concerned about this and I need to do my research on how this will effect me. I feel as if my employer is trying to pull the wool over my eyes in which case I need to be prepared. I need to gather as much information on turning self employed so I can present this to them.

Due to my current situation I have to go self employed because I'm also in part time education and I can't simply leave to get another job otherwise it will jeopardise my degree.

Any help will be appreciated thanks.

TELLIT01

I suspect the tax man has been investigating the payment methods of the employer. If he's paying everybody cash in hand he's probably not paying the NI contributions or pension which every employer is supposed to do now. By making you go formally self-employed he is getting rid of the problem.

stator

Do you have your P60 forms? A record of how much tax you've paid and a record of your NI?


If you want to go self employed then it's fairly easy to join an umbrella company. They will handle everything for you, but take a percentage of your earnings. Obviously tax and NI will be deducted so you will be a lot worse off if you boss was being a criminal.

Savvy_Sue

So are they offering an increase in what they pay you, to cover the fact that they will no longer have to pay you for holidays, pension contributions and NI?

They've been paying cash, but have they been giving you payslips itemising what they're paying and how much tax and NI has been deducted?

Your employment status isn't a matter for your employer or for you to decide. See here to work out if they are pulling a fast one.

TBagpuss

How long have you worked for them? They may not be able t simply tell you to go self employed. If you've been there more than 2 years they can't simply dismiss you , an you don't have to go self-employed just because they have asked you to.

If you are willing to go down that route, bear in mind that if you are self employed you have to save part of the money you are paid to pay your tax, and you have to make arrangements to pay your own NI. Your entitlement to benefits will change if you are not able to work in future, and you will not be entitled to things such as paid sick leave, SSP or paid holidays, nor will you have any employment protection, redundancy rights etc.

So if you consider becoming self employed, do your sums to work out what your rate as a contractor needs to be to cover things such as holidays , and make sure that you have a proper written contract with the current employer which sets out your rates, timescales for payments, notice period for you or them to end the arrangement etc.

Even if they want you to call yourself self-employed, you may not be https://www.gov.uk/employment-status/selfemployed-contractor