[Closed] 'Employing' your spouse

She has to actually do something!! There are a few test cases fro unbrealla companies etc. The rule is she does have to have a job that she does to be paid other wise it's a dodge. If she does your invoicing etc that may be enough. Are you Limited company? may be a better route and you can both be co directors. Speak to a GOOD accountant who knows about this rather than here!!

I was employing my partner for a year, basically i work as a limited company. She was employed as my secretary and i paid her and myself the miminum wage. It was done to drop the tax bill the company got.

But at the time she was not working due to health issues.

Are you an MP?

If you are a limited company you can make her a shareholder and pay her a monthly dividend. That way she does not have to work for you.
Speak to an accountant tho'

If you are a limited company you can make her a shareholder and pay her a monthly dividend. That way she does not have to work for you.
Speak to an accountant tho'

You'd have to pay employers ni on it presumably, which would reduce the advantage quite a bit.

Obviously she'd need to actually be doing a job for you, or else it'd be fraud.

Given it is such an obvious fraud, it's probably one that they might actually catch you for, particularly if she's got another job that she actually does.

She is a self-employed barber and works 3-4 days a week, so could technically work for me 1-3 days invoicing/accounting etc. I would pay her as a sub-contractor, not PAYE.

Both being self employed and me being well into the 40% bracket and Mrs STR not being, can we spread the earnings?

Limited company is the way and then you don't have the hassle involved with employing anyone else. My personal tax liability for 2010/2011 was £1.

Not really in the position to go Ltd at the moment, as I juggle my personal and business overdrafts when cash flow is slow - I would imagine this would get a bit tricky/messy as a Ltd co.

ACCOUNTANT!!!

Keep going on here and there will be pitchforks coming have you seen the tags!!

He is a troll 🙄

Lol mikewsmith, couldn't give a toss.

Just don't like giving 40% to HMRC, nothing to do with child benefit.

Not really in the position to go Ltd at the moment, as I juggle my personal and business overdrafts when cash flow is slow - I would imagine this would get a bit tricky/messy as a Ltd co.

You can loan between the two, and as long as loans are repayed within 9 months minus 1 day, for all intents and purposes they never happened.

At least three STWers work for the revenue, I'm sure they can take the necessary level of interest in your question on Monday to give best advice.

nothing wrong or illegal with tax avoidance, it's tax evasion that puts you in an open prison.
most people fail to see the difference.
money spent with an accountant is money saved.

Loving the tags - keep em coming. I'm sure anyone tagging, either doesn't give 40% to HMRC, or if they do, doesn't actually enjoy doing so.

iDave, as I said, not looking to do anything illegal, my wife could genuinely carry out work for me - up to me how much I pay her surely?

I was kidding 😉

Common sense to me.

I'm sure anyone tagging, either doesn't give 40% to HMRC, or if they do, doesn't actually enjoy doing so.

Just out of interest, why do you think you should pay less tax?

Just out of interest, why do you think you should pay less tax?

I did it because it was perfectly legal. The laws regarding what you can and can't claim as business expenses/apportion your money to/etc. are there for a reason. If you don't use them, then more fool you.

Why pay more tax than the law requires? Do you pay more than the asking price for goods and services?

I did it because it was perfectly legal. The laws regarding what you can and can't claim as business expenses/apportion your money to/etc. are there for a reason. If you don't use them, then more fool you.

Fair enough. Just don't go moaning when there's no public service and taxes go up.

Perfectly legal? Nothing dodgy at all? Not declaring your private mileage in the vehicle you write off against tax? nothing of that ilk?

Its clear the OP is attempting to dodge tax not to actually employ his wife .

This is why we need more tax inspectors - stop this petty tax evasion and there would be plenty of money.

I don't have a vehicle written off against tax to do private mileage in TJ, so no. Nothing of that ilk. My accountant says I could put more of my purchases, such as clothes, food, etc. against the company should I wish, but I never do: I'm crap at keeping receipts. As I said, absolutely perfectly legal. And I'm pretty sure bandying about the phrase "tax evasion" could be seen by some as libellous.

Given it is such an obvious fraud, it's probably one that they might actually catch you for, particularly if she's got another job that she actually does.

This, tbh. Nothing wrong with paying the going rate for work that she could feasibly do. I doubt it's as simple as deciding to pay her what you want. I expect the IR may call fraud on you if you were paying an unskilled person £100 an hour to do your accounts! I'd agree with the accountant advice, always appears to be money well spent for those people I know. Nothing immoral about trying to reduce your tax bill, as long as it's above board.

Fair enough then flying ox.

Maybe could be seen as libellous like some but I would claim fair comment. Anyway the OP has no reputation to lose 😉 😈

Hehe.

This is why we need more tax inspectors - stop this petty tax evasion and there would be plenty of money.

while you are at it stop the waste of taxpayers money by public sector 'sick days' dock their pay with out a doctors letter.
if you compare the days off taken by self employed people per year to those who don't have to worry about 'earning' as their wages are paid when they have a [s]hangover[/s] dodgy tummy you will see the true cost of civil servants blatant cheating of the taxpayer.

while you are at it stop the waste of taxpayers money by public sector 'sick days' dock their pay with out a doctors letter.
if you compare the days off taken by self employed people per year to those who don't have to worry about 'earning' as their wages are paid when they have a hangover dodgy tummy you will see the true cost of civil servants blatant cheating of the taxpayer.

I suspect you'll find tax [s]evasion[/s] efficiency costs the exchequer considerably more than a few sickies.

You also seem to miss the blatantly obvious from behind your Torygraph - public sector workers [i]are[/i] tax payers.

i would just chuck it all in an go on the rock and roll, less chance of offending Mr and Mrs Perfect that way.

if you compare the days off taken by self employed people per year to those who don't have to worry about 'earning' as their wages are paid when they have a hangover dodgy tummy you will see the true cost of civil servants blatant cheating of the taxpayer.

What about private sector workers pulling sickies; how as that different from public sector workers?

When I worked in retail, I pulled as many sickies as I could. Made sure I got my maximum 'allowance'. 😀

MrSmith; don't spose you have any figures what prove that public sector workers pull more sickies than private sector workers, do you?

No, din't think so...

That's rather missing the point, Elfin, as I'm sure you well know.

No it's not.

small business gets stiched every time, if he can claw a bit back by employing the mrs best of luck to him.

meanwhile..
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-1704527/Taxman-let-Vodafone-off-6bn-bill.html

This is why we need more tax inspectors - stop this petty tax evasion and there would be plenty of money.

More tax inspectors = more people I kneed to take out to lunch....

[satire] Just change your surname to Vodafone, take the HMRC bosses out for a fancy meal and they will be giving you a reacharound before you can say, 'how many billions?'. [/satire]

[url= http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=in_the_back& ]Bah.[/url]

We both work for our Ltd company, and as we both earn/invoice our own clients its fine - why don't you just create a limited company that both of you invoice thru.

Then you can pay each of you what you want to. As a guide, just below tax-code and then top-up with divi's to just less than the 40% rate is a good start. Therefore paying neither income tax or NI, only corp tax (and VAT).

And maximise expenses, to reduce profit - not too much though, as you need profit to pay divi's.

Both being self employed and me being well into the 40% bracket

No it's not.

Public sector workers, paid by the state, pulling sickes are by definition taking money from the public purse to cover their "illness" when they get paid for the day off.

Private sector workers, paid by the private sector, pulling sickies are by definition taking money from their company's accounts to cover their "illness" when they get paid for the day off.

Self-employed workers, paid or not as a result of their own hard graft and entrepeneuralism, don't pull sickies if they can at all help it because not working = not getting paid.

Yes it is.

No it's not.

Look:

Private sector workers, paid by the private sector, pulling sickies are by definition taking money from their company's accounts to cover their "illness" when they get paid for the day off, leading to reduced profits leading to less taxes paid by company.

I've fixed that for you, for no extra charge.

*nudge*

And the amount of tax revenue lost through a private sector employee pulling a sickie is comparable to the amount taken out of the public purse to pay for a public sector employee's sick pay how? You're fond of asking for figures. How about some to back [i]your[/i] point of view?

TandemJeremy - Member

Perfectly legal? Nothing dodgy at all? Not declaring your private mileage in the vehicle you write off against tax? nothing of that ilk?

Its clear the OP is attempting to dodge tax not to actually employ his wife .

This is why we need more tax inspectors - stop this petty tax evasion and there would be plenty of money.

Nope, nothing dodgy in the slightest and all legal. My books are based totally on bank dealings, no cash runs through the business. I probably do less than 10% personal mileage, but only put 90% through the business.

There would be plenty of money? I've given HMRC around £35k in the last 24 months, I think I'm doing my share to contribute, don't you? How much have you given back to the state out of interest?

Oh and ds - that pic is getting a bit boring now. I don't have loads of cash, a fancy house, a flash motor, or lots of material possessions. Just an expensive coke habit.... (jk) 😉

Oh and ds - that pic is getting a bit boring now. I don't have loads of cash, a fancy house, a flash motor, or lots of material possessions.