Overdue Rent For German Flat-Predicament

AdrianC

woolythoughts wrote: »

It is assessed contract by contract and now BY the client.

Large swathes of companies are just refusing to deal with limited company contractors for fear of incorrect tax assessments.

Ah, now that is a different question. That's not contractors being hit by IR35. That's companies deciding to change the way they work with consultants and short-term stuff simply for fear of falling foul of it.

Skiddaw1

AdrianC wrote: »

Which instantly puts you outside the scope of IR35.

IR35 is only hitting disguised employees.

Hmmm..... to be honest, it's a wee bit more ambiguous. Mr S had some contracts which were clearly in, one or two that were clearly outside and a few that were far harder to call (he always erred on the side of caution, not wanting to either fall foul of HMRC or pay any less tax than he should morally as well as legally do). It's a bit of a grey area (which is why IR35 appeal case-law was and probably still is developing all the time). Glad we're out of it now!

woolythoughts

AdrianC wrote: »

Ah, now that is a different question. That's not contractors being hit by IR35. That's companies deciding to change the way they work with consultants and short-term stuff simply for fear of falling foul of it.

But it is the effect of badly thought out legislation which in general was not needed.

AdrianC

woolythoughts wrote: »

But it is the effect of badly thought out legislation which in general was not needed.

So how come it's only happening now, not back in the 90s?

woolythoughts

Because up until now the onus has been on the contractor to make the determination not the client.

HMRC didn’t like that as they see it as whack a mole

So they are threatening the clients (general much larger, risk averse and fewer of them than contractors) and they are doing what risk averse do and saying no limited company sub contractors allowed in case we get it wrong.

HUMBUG

Unsure whats going to happen to all these contractors now. My brother is 63 , so might find it difficult finding permanent work. Maybe there will be a big increase in unemployment stats in the next few months.

Anyhow the German Landlord has now threatened to give the matter to his lawyers for the 3k that my brother owes him (even though he owes by brother about 2k deposit). He's adding 4% per month for non-payment and won't agree to allow time to pay. Seems a bit harsh consdering by brother has paid over £140k over 7 yrs without default but maybe he's got his own mortgage to pay on this flat.

My brother can't pay so now just waiting for the demands and court action.

Still a bit wary that even if my brother pays the 3k , that the landlord might not pay the 2k deposit . Wonder if the German courts take the net debt under consideration and allow my brother time to pay?

[Deleted User]

HUMBUG wrote: »

Unsure whats going to happen to all these contractors now. My brother is 63 , so might find it difficult finding permanent work. Maybe there will be a big increase in unemployment stats in the next few months.

Anyhow the German Landlord has now threatened to give the matter to his lawyers for the 3k that my brother owes him (even though he owes by brother about 2k deposit). He's adding 4% per month for non-payment and won't agree to allow time to pay. Seems a bit harsh consdering by brother has paid over £140k over 7 yrs without default but maybe he's got his own mortgage to pay on this flat.

My brother can't pay so now just waiting for the demands and court action.

Still a bit wary that even if my brother pays the 3k , that the landlord might not pay the 2k deposit . Wonder if the German courts take the net debt under consideration and allow my brother time to pay?

Does your brother have any intention to live or work in Germany again? Even if the landlord does take your brother to court I can't see how any judgement could be enforced if your brother is outside of Germany. If you file a MCOL in England you need and address in England or Wales for the defendant otherwise you'll fall at the first hurdle.

davidmcn

Lover_of_Lycra wrote: »

If you file a MCOL in England you need an address in England or Wales for the defendant otherwise you'll fall at the first hurdle.

I think it's only the "online" bit of the process which excludes that for some reason, you can still do a "normal" small claim. And enforcing judgments cross-border is pretty routine, though typically involves an additional bureaucratic step.

[Deleted User]

davidmcn wrote: »

I think it's only the "online" bit of the process which excludes that for some reason, you can still do a "normal" small claim. And enforcing judgments cross-border is pretty routine, though typically involves an additional bureaucratic step.

By cross border do you just mean to Scotland or to another country such as Germany?

davidmcn

Lover_of_Lycra wrote: »

By cross border do you just mean to Scotland or to another country such as Germany?

As far as I can remember it's much the same process (within the EU, for the meantime, anyway) - enforcing in Scotland means registering the foreign judgement here and then using it for normal Scottish debt recovery processes.