How to be profitable as a contractor

RobHT

I work in IT, I searched a few contractor jobs but they are mostly around 400 a day, really low amount...

In the past, I've made a calculation, if I'm below 700 a day around London, it becomes useless being a contractor, actually is much worst for a numerous reasons that are beyond the salary, like redundancy etc...
The problem is that almost no one pays this amount, it's quite difficult to find something beyond 600 to be precise, it can't be a good deal to work for 600 pounds a day in London, even if you work every day which never happens, no sick leave etc, it's a disaster, I really wonder how these people make money, to me it seems that they all avoid taxes...

Example, I know a guy, that knows a guy, this cool guy bought an house of 700k outside London, he takes no more than 150k yearly.
So, I wonder what is his cool plan to pay off that house...
Probably there is some way to reduce the taxation if you have a mortgage, but I don't think it can be so high to justify the price of that house...

lincroft1710

I would think there are hundreds of thousands who work for less than £600 per day in London.

DE_612183

are you looking inside or outside IR35?

DE_612183

lincroft1710 said:

I would think there are hundreds of thousands who work for less than £600 per day in London.

600 a day is the "charge" - the actual take home would be a lot less after tax ( Corp, EMNI, EPNI & Paye ).

Plus you have to factor in non paid holidays, sickness or pension contributions.

Wyndham

This is a wind up, right? Many people would love to earn £150,000 per year.

And unless you have very specialised and in demand IT skills, I really think you'll struggle to get even that much (I'm an IT contractor, just for reference!)

Robin9

lincroft1710 said:

I would think there are hundreds of thousands who work for less than £600 per day in London.

Many will be happy with £600 a week

DE_612183

Wyndham said:

This is a wind up, right? Many people would love to earn £150,000 per year.

And unless you have very specialised and in demand IT skills, I really think you'll struggle to get even that much (I'm an IT contractor, just for reference!)

I do wonder as well - the guy says take home - I wonder if he means turnover...

lincroft1710

DE_612183 said:

lincroft1710 said:

I would think there are hundreds of thousands who work for less than £600 per day in London.

600 a day is the "charge" - the actual take home would be a lot less after tax ( Corp, EMNI, EPNI & Paye ).

Plus you have to factor in non paid holidays, sickness or pension contributions.

I realise £600 is not take home, but obviously a lot of people in London have to manage on far less. If OP claims most contracts are offering £400 a day, then perhaps his expectations are unrealistic. But I don't criticise his wish to maximise his earnings.

Anthony147

RobHT said:

I work in IT, I searched a few contractor jobs but they are mostly around 400 a day, really low amount...

In the past, I've made a calculation, if I'm below 700 a day around London, it becomes useless being a contractor, actually is much worst for a numerous reasons that are beyond the salary, like redundancy etc...
The problem is that almost no one pays this amount, it's quite difficult to find something beyond 600 to be precise, it can't be a good deal to work for 600 pounds a day in London, even if you work every day which never happens, no sick leave etc, it's a disaster, I really wonder how these people make money, to me it seems that they all avoid taxes...

Example, I know a guy, that knows a guy, this cool guy bought an house of 700k outside London, he takes no more than 150k yearly.
So, I wonder what is his cool plan to pay off that house...
Probably there is some way to reduce the taxation if you have a mortgage, but I don't think it can be so high to justify the price of that house...

Pretty sure this a wind up - put simply If no one is offering that salary, the market does not believe it needs to offer that much to obtain the skills, experience to do the job.

What you want / desire as a day rate is a moot point (until you are so in demand to have a rider list}, what the roles say they’ll pay for your skills, experience is and what other people achieve via magic beans, inheritances, interest only mortgages or anything else has no bearing on what contracting will pay.

I’d go further as it’s a really important point - This and your previous postings are not the clearest in terms of written prose and efficacy which if typical WILL dramatically affect your consideration for the either HIGHLY specialised or LEADERSHIP roles that pay the day rate you desire.

RobHT

DE_612183 said:

are you looking inside or outside IR35?

Outside, inside looks a joke...

RobHT

DE_612183 said:

lincroft1710 said:

I would think there are hundreds of thousands who work for less than £600 per day in London.

600 a day is the "charge" - the actual take home would be a lot less after tax ( Corp, EMNI, EPNI & Paye ).

Plus you have to factor in non paid holidays, sickness or pension contributions.

That's why I say that it's a low amount...