Fourth grant denied because other income exceeded my CIS profits 19/20

Jeremy535897

Pennywise said:

MattMattMattUK said:

I think a lot of people are finally beginning to understand their employment status a bit better over this last year, it is amazing how many limited company directors, employed and paid via PAYE were somehow under the illusion that they were self employed. 

Doesn't help when mortgage firms and other govt depts regard small company directors as "self employed", i.e. for state benefits, etc.  There is no consistent messaging.  That's even more confusing now that the employment courts have created a new status of "worker" where someone can get employment benefits as a pseudo employee but remains taxable as self employed.  Then you have some industry freelancers (such as actors) who are on the engaging firm's payroll for NIC but are self employed and pay SE tax via self assessment. It's all a mess and needs sorting.

Very few people, if any, classed as "workers" as per the Uber Court decisions, will be self employed for tax purposes.

Jeremy535897

68ComebackSpecial said:

Pennywise said:

MattMattMattUK said:

I think a lot of people are finally beginning to understand their employment status a bit better over this last year, it is amazing how many limited company directors, employed and paid via PAYE were somehow under the illusion that they were self employed. 

Doesn't help when mortgage firms and other govt depts regard small company directors as "self employed", i.e. for state benefits, etc.  There is no consistent messaging.  That's even more confusing now that the employment courts have created a new status of "worker" where someone can get employment benefits as a pseudo employee but remains taxable as self employed.  Then you have some industry freelancers (such as actors) who are on the engaging firm's payroll for NIC but are self employed and pay SE tax via self assessment. It's all a mess and needs sorting.

That makes eminent sense as company directors, unlike other employees, have the ability to vary their pay to suit themselves. If they were treated in the same way as other employees for benefit purposes then there would be nothing to stop them paying themselves a minimal income for eleven months of the year, claim maximum entitlement of Universal Credit and then, in the twelfth month, pay themselves an enormous bonus - and then repeat year after year.

I cannot imagine that there are many company directors paying themselves enormous annual bonuses who have less than £16,000 in savings, but for those with modest means it might be possible to take some small advantage of the UC rules by taking irregular payments of salary, if there were no look through provisions.