First year trading

Jeremy535897

It sounds as if your business is unincorporated? If so, you can always consider whether to make your wife a partner in the business, which means that you can vary the division of income between each other without having to justify anything. It would mean that your wife would have joint and several liability for partnership debts.

Jaco70

Jeremy535897 said:

It sounds as if your business is unincorporated? If so, you can always consider whether to make your wife a partner in the business, which means that you can vary the division of income between each other without having to justify anything. It would mean that your wife would have joint and several liability for partnership debts.

No, we’ve been a limited company for decades, and she’s also a shareholder, owning around a quarter of the shares.
I do have an accountant who likes to consider every possibility, so maybe he’s just being overly cautious on this issue. 

Jeremy535897

Is she a director? If so, I would have thought you would have no issue on paying her the £8,840 you can pay without employer's NIC as a minimum (possibly more if the employment allowance is applicable). You should compare what you pay to the minimum wage for the hours she works. I assume she receives the £123 a week minimum to qualify for pension etc.

Jaco70

Jeremy535897 said:

Is she a director? If so, I would have thought you would have no issue on paying her the £8,840 you can pay without employer's NIC as a minimum (possibly more if the employment allowance is applicable). You should compare what you pay to the minimum wage for the hours she works. I assume she receives the £123 a week minimum to qualify for pension etc.

Not a director, and not intending at this stage to become one. 

She earns about £105pw from the company, which in reality is probably about £35 an hour (although quite essential to me each week), but also has another part time job paying about 12k. Plus dividends on her shares.