I have a mate whos keen to get me on board helping out with his property maintainance business, Ive done a few days and really like the work.Its just him and his son so I would be looking at going self employed and paid on a flat daily rate rather than being employed with all the benefits but that isnt an issue for now.
Having been on PAYE since leaving school MANY years ago and wouldnt know where to start with regard to N.I payments, tax etc..
I plan to sort out an accountant soon but any thoughts/suggestions much appreciated …..

Getting up and running is simple enough, phone HMRC and give some details to register and you are done.
You need to pay Class 2 NI which is a flat rate and can be paid on direct debit.

Tax is self assessment once a year. An accountant will help with that though.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/

Legally…

If this person is your sole ‘client’ then they should legally employ you – the Government clamped down on this due to many labourers etc being ‘self employed’ which meant their employers clients got away without having to pay Employer NI.

Then there is the fact the employer client doesn’t have to pay sick pay/holiday pay etc.

EDIT:

From HMRC

If the answer is ‘Yes’ to all of the following questions, then the worker is probably an employee:

Do they have to do the work themselves?
Can someone tell them at any time what to do, where to carry out the work or when and how to do it?
Can they work a set amount of hours?
Can someone move them from task to task?
Are they paid by the hour, week, or month?
Can they get overtime pay or bonus payment?

If the answer is ‘Yes’ to all of the following questions, it will usually mean that the worker is self-employed:

Can they hire someone to do the work or engage helpers at their own expense?
Do they risk their own money?
Do they provide the main items of equipment they need to do their job, not just the small tools that many employees provide for themselves?
Do they agree to do a job for a fixed price regardless of how long the job may take?
Can they decide what work to do, how and when to do the work and where to provide the services?
Do they regularly work for a number of different people?
Do they have to correct unsatisfactory work in their own time and at their own expense?

Thanks for the heads-up JD. Its early days yet but reading through your post it looks like self employment as I use my own tools, have my own van, work independently (sometimes), buy the materials and hours vary according to the job. Although I sometimes buy the materials I get re-embursed when the job is finished ….

Hmmm – tricky one but I dont want to give matey any grief by him having to employ me..

John is refering to a piece of legislation called IR35. If you can show you have multiple sources of income and don’t work at once fixed site then you should be fine.

Also, dependent on your turn over figures consider setting up a Ltd company as you could save a fair amount of tax…before speaking to HMRC go and see a local accountant who can guide you in the right direction (email me with your location and I may be able to point you in the direction of a suitable accountant).

Good luck!!

Lasty – that’s fine then – *probably* nothing would come of it, but if you can prove that you are self employed (even by taking on the odd bit of work here and there ‘just in case’) it will help protect you all should HMRC come knocking.

Have fun.

Lasty

I did something similar this year. A guy who runs his own business who employ a friend of mine asked me whether I’d be willing to help him out (kind offer as he knew I’d been made redundant). He told me it would be 3-4 months work but he wouldn’t really be looking to employ me or even offer a zero hours contract. It put me in a tricky situation as I definitely didn’t want to turn down the work but was concerned that technically speaking I wouldn’t be self employed. But I decided that given the option registering as self employed was the only way to go. Very straight forward. Did it all online, pay my NI via DD and am all set up to do my tax returns online.

I’ve managed to get another one or two bits of work from others to show I’ve had other clients. I’m hoping that, if it comes to it, that will be enough to prove my self employed status as being correct.

also a new term is “freelancer” not self employed in some circumstances

also a new term is “freelancer” not self employed in some circumstances

Is that just terminology or does it actually have some bearing on things, from a HMRC point of view?

Thanks for the heads up folks – first stop seems to be a good accountant an letting the tax bods know the score … 🙄

Thanks again