I also don’t begrudge @tjagain and the rest of the public sector their pensions either 🙂 We all make different choices, I made one choice and for the most part I am happy with it. The fact I can’t buy one is just the luck of the draw, you win some you lose some. I have loved ones who are teachers/police etc and I do sympathise with the rules changing.

Id rather we all were allowed a decent retirement, rather than pulling people down to my level where I will be enjoying the stress free permie life in B&Q when I am no longer relevant in my industry, 70 and can’t afford to stop work 🙂 Thats not a dig at B&Q by the way 🙂 Just that I actually know a bit about tools, so think they might employ me 🙂

am more worried about all the takeaways that over covid19 have suddenly become “Cash only” despite previously taking card.

I noticed that and thought that too, not just takeways either.

Cash business really are the ones that people should be worried about, business to business transactions are easily audited.

Most of the other stuff you’ve referred to again isn’t my experience either. They don’t “market themselves”, they don’t juggle “multiple client” indeed many of them have worked for the same client for years if not decades and quite a lot of them don’t actually do a very good job either but that’s not really relevant to employment status.

@gonefishin

Actually interested in what you industry work in? Why does your business not get rid of them? That’s mad, the whole point of engaging someone on a contract basis is that you can get rid of them if they don’t meet the needs of the business or you no longer needs the skills they provide.

Is that what’s known as the Edinburgh defence?

I will concede that the original comment was a bit below the belt, it was rude and I apologise to @MoreCashThanDash but I stand by the principle of the argument.

Again not my experience. In fact the claim of “it’s not fair” is normally heard from Ltd Company staff in reference to a “lack of sick pay”, “lack of Paid Holidays” etc. My response to such claims has over the years been along the lines of “you do it’s built into your rate” or “you should speak to your employer about that…”

My experience of this is that’s only the response of people who either don’t understand they are running a business and unfortunately some big companies have dragged people into self employment who don’t really understand what they are doing or the consequences of it.

Or in response to being treated like PAYE employees when it comes to taxation but not when it comes to benefits.

I can only talk for my industry (engineering) and none of the people I know would claim this totally the opposite they want to be treated like legitimate businesses.

I think I mentioned earlier in the thread I have worked for myself for 25 years, in that time the tax burden on my company has increased massively. I am OK with that, but not with the constant needling that I am some how pulling a fast one, cheating or a tax dodger.

I have my ideas on which group of people are the biggest tax cheats in our country and its not companies providing professional services (I sound like a prostitute now 🙂 ) However I am not going to tar them all with the same brush.

You really do come across very very poorly, is that your intention or are you just very stupid?

Haha no not at all, fed up with the politics of envy that’s all and being attacked for choosing to run a legitimate business.

It was a little tongue in cheek hence following the internet convention of adding a smiley at the end.

@anagallis_arvensis you have been extremely vociferous in the past defending your chosen profession as a teacher, why do you think I am poorly or stupid doing the same for mine? I might be being however being a deliberately provocative to make a point however.

Its a fact that everyone thinks that the country should pay more tax, just that it should be someone else paying it and not them.

I would argue its stupid not seeing small business as important to the economy. The irony is the whole rhetoric of us being somehow tax dodgers comes from the government, that most of the people on this forum despise. Its a classic divide and conquer strategy. All the recent changes to taxation on small business make them less competitive against their larger counterparts. Something that the left are harping on about all the time is the power of big business. So change that and support small business.

I would have no problem with a flat tax rate, that does not care how you earn’t it and if its deemed that small business can’t claim for expenses incurred going about their business then neither should big business.

So @anagallis_arvensis the Adhom attack is very bad form and generally the last resort of someone who has no real argument or stupid 🙂

I so want a JTV-59 and its all you guys fault 🙂

Some of them are. Some of them are one man band contractors who are happy to tell you how their accountant has set them up to minimise the tax they pay into the system, and then complain that the system doesn’t provide enough.

Somewhere there is a happy medium, and I guess that varies on how much income a small business can generate.

That is complete crap for most one man band contractors. They take risk as they are having to find new work regularly juggle multiple clients and take on risk if stuff goes wrong.

Most do not expect handouts from the government when times are bad and nor do they get any. What they do want is an even playing field to compete with bigger businesses and consultancies.

It makes me laugh, people working PAYE do they do it because they feel its their duty to work for someone else and pay the most tax the possibly can. No its because they are too scared or too unorganised to work for them self. They are not prepared to constantly market them self, risk not having any work or have to spend the time actually running their company doing their VAT returns. No what that do is moan “Its not fair” pathetic 🙂

Which is galling when my final salary pension was changed to a DB ten years into a job that took 7 years to train for with no compensating increase in salary.

Yeah its was galling when they changed the tax credit on Dividends 10 years into starting my business.

Bazzwer – the rules on pensions have been changed to make them more expensive and less value

That is true, but my point is still valid, There is no product on the market I can pay the same as you and get the same benefit as you, it just does not exist. So you are getting a benefit in kind that you are not taxed on.

The reality is I really don’t begrudge you your pension, I am not all about bringing people level down to the lowest common denominator.

I think a tax system that encourages people to be innovative and to take chances and build a great economy in the UK is a good thing. Yes people should be paying their fair share of taxes, but it should be a fair share.

I honestly think the job I do adds to the economy of this country and I want my share of that addition, I don’t think that’s wrong. If its deemed to be wrong fine, I will do something less stressful and remove my skills from the economy. I don’t go to work for the fun of it.

If we want a socialist lowest common denominator society I can do that too, just like the rest.

A part of the reason I went into healthcare was for the pension. I accepted low salaries ( and yes they are if you compare like with like) in exchange for the benefits in service and once retired

So its OK to change the rules for small business, but not for you?

I don’t have the luxury of signing up for a set of rules for the length of my working career, yet you think you do? They have a budget every year that I am subject too, so you think the public sector should be outside that?

Bazzer – you have bought into the whole “public sector pensions are unaffordable” nonsense.

So why can’t I buy one for the same price as you pay then ?

Bazzer, what a load of rubbish on both counts. There is no loop hole on pensions for tax, you pay the tax when you draw down your pension at the appropriate rate. Your pension comes out of your salary before tax for that reason.

Secondly why should public sector pensions attract anymore tax than anyone else? Its part of negotiated terms and conditions, nothing underhand about it and tax is payer as normal when the retired.

Because the payments into the plans don’t reflect the benefits, I could pay the same amount into a defined contribution scheme (that is all that’s available to me) and I would not have the same benefit at the end of it. So you are getting an additional benefit in kind.

Also people taking dividends from a company is part of the tax law of the land and not illegal and is taxed appropriately. So if we want to be on an even playing field then lets all be on one. If there can be changes to the tax regime to make things fair, lets look at the fairness of the availability of defined benefit pension schemes too.

Bazzer – Ok with that so long as we get pay rises that then reflect what we would get with a similar level of experience, skill and responsibility in the private sector I reckon thats about a 50% pay rise, the 20% or so on top of my salary that the terms are worth is a lot less than the difference between private and public sector salaries

If your job is available in the private sector and their is demand for it, then do it. If there is no demand for it out there then your not going to get your 50% pay rise are you.

I also suspect a 50% rise in your pension would come not where near to paying for your pension either.

That thing is I actually agree that the NI/Income tax split is mad. I for one would be totally up for there being a flat tax rate on Income of any source, be that PAYE, dividends, capital gain or inheritance.

The NI thing (which now days is pretty much the only saving from taking dividends over PAYE) is stupid and should be removed and added to a flat tax system. Then we are all on the same level playing field. For me a big consultancy would be taxed differently to me if I fall under IR35. So that makes bigger consultancies more competitive when bidding than the little guy. So I am all for tax simplification.

I’ve just read that company directors are excluded

You answered your own question.

Edited to add: That said I didn’t expect any help either, I run my business like a real business and I plan for lean times as well as good times. However I don’t expect to be lumped in with people who only choose to be seen as a business when it suits them either.

At the risk of brining up an old topic i agree with TJ the self employed loops holes need to shut the idea of paying a min then topping up with tax free/less tax dividends needs to be closed. I am amazed though how much the Tories have hung self employed out to dry.

Yes and also we should close that tax dodge loophole of people paying into pensions and reducing their tax burden. Also people in the public sector should be taxed on the real value of their extremely valuable pensions, that people in the private sector just don’t have access too and can’t buy.

I have been a contractor for 25 years. I work business to business so there is no way I can not declare my earning. I claim very little in expenses etc and every thing I do is legit. For years I have never claimed xmas dinner expenses or any other of the legitimate things I legally could. I design stuff that it built in the UK and helps an industry that you all used everyday (drinking water from your tap)

I pay all my taxes and don’t begrudge it at all. Like a lot of people I don’t choose this way of working to dodge tax I do it because of the flexibility it gives me.

I was lucky enough to have worked all through this horrible time. If I had not though I would not have been entitled to a penny in support from the government. I am diligent and I treat my company like a company and I make sure I build in a level of resilience. Yet I am lumped in with the cash in hand people who don’t give a toss about paying there taxes etc.

The tax benefits of operating a Ltd company in this country have been massively eroded over the years. The main reason for doing it is the legal protection it gives you and the fact in a lot of industries companies won’t engage with a sole trader.

So Cheers TJ and the others moaning from there secure permie jobs with secure pensions etc for lumping us all in the same boat with all the tax dodgers. If I am ever up your way ill bring some salt and vinegar to go with the chips on your shoulders.

@benp1 I am in Clanfield, literally one junction down the A3 from QECP. So my 11mins is riding to QECP 🙂

@benp1 Where abouts on the South Downs? I am 11mins on a Mountain bike from the South Downs Way 🙂

@weeksy

Obviously not the same as the smaller Dukes but I have been very close to buying a 1290 GT on more than one occasion. Having test ridden its deffo got more character and more exciting than my XR, but it is a bit more hard on the hips and I do a lot of really long days on tour and I am not getting any younger.

I am also considering getting rid of the Tuono (no more room for a n+1) and getting either a 690 enduro or more likely a 701LR I really fancy doing a bit of the TET off road touring when the pandemic ends. Though part of me says go super light packing and put a bigger tank on the FE350 and I will have much more fun and wave goodbye to my mates on techy sections on their bigger bikes 😀 Whilst wearing yesterdays pants 🙂

@oldtennisshoes Thanks for that, it should be here on Wednesday 🙂

I have been using the Rickenbacker synthbass from Native Instruments on my recordings. It sounds pretty bass like, but I find it hard to play on a keyboard in a way a real bass is played. That said I have never owned a bass, so might be a laugh to start 🙂

Edited to add, I actually wanted the red one 😀

I tried buying an Ibanez SR300 bass at the weekend, it would appear no one has stock. Loads in Germany, in the past I would have just ordered from Germany.

All you KTM owners – Every time I read a test in the mags, they have some sort of problem, albeit sometimes small.

I have a sort of KTM 🙂 A Husqvarna FE350, been fine so far and it spends most of its time on the floor 🙂

Great for going to the shops, but a very unexciting bike to ride.

I think they are great fun to ride, surprised you think that.

Another Street Triple without doubt 🙂 The New 765RS.

I had a a couple of 675 Streets on the road and a couple Daytona 675’s as track bikes.

I now have a 765RS track bike (converted to daytona) I ran it in on the road and it was utterly brilliant.

I have a V4 Tuono and an S1000XR for the road and I wan’t a 765RS as well 🙂

I just looked at the prices for the ASUS ROG Strix OC GTX 1070 8GB I bought second hand 2 years ago. Its worth more now,crazy.

You could always measure them with a digital vernier, to find out what gauge is on there.

Yes thanks again to @AdamT for putting it all together.

I think its quite a good learning exercise too. Made me really think about it when doing my bit, but also listening to others makes me think what I could have done.

I hang around the tonal centre a little bit too much, where as others are bit more varied which is more interesting.

Also tones that sound good on their own don’t necessarily translate into sounding good in a mix.

Awesome, really enjoyed listening to that and how people did different things.

Software engineers are not made, they are born 🙂

A joke but I do think there is some truth in it. After being an embedded software engineer for 25 years.

So I am first and guitarhero is last, it must be in order of how good it is 😀

Dont worry @eddiebaby I’m a remedial guitar player 🙂

Cheers guys for the bass info 🙂

@AdamT I had looked at Ibanez basses, I thought I was being a bit of a fanboi as I have two Ibanez electric guitars now and a few more RG’s and an original yellow JEM back in the day 🙂

Edited to add, the SR305 is a 5 string? Much advantage going for a 5 string. Basically I want to play bass on my recordings rather than use a keyboard. Well thats initially what I want, I am sure I will want to actually learn to play better 🙂

What would you recommend for someone who is a bit bass curious @AdamT, would not want to spend a fortune, but would want something that its actually an instrument and not a toy 🙂

I was going to say it would be interesting to hear how people recorded their takes, but I am a geek.

I used an Ibanez RG521 Genesis on the neck pickup coil tapped. Into a Line 6 Helix with the standard Country Chorus patch but with the gain on the amp turned down a bit. That was straight into logic pro X on macbook via USB so the helix was used as the audio interface. I did record a dry signal simultaneously too and played around with guitar rig 6 on that, but preferred the Helix sound.

I have re-recorded it with the same patch with a short 300ms delay added and I not sure which one I prefer. I might end up sending that to Adam 🙂

@bobgarrod well if you paid £300 you can double or triple your money based on condition of it 🙂

I have an Arcam alpha 9 CD player with an external Audiolab M-DAC.

cd5si is pretty posh 🙂

@bobgarrod I looked at a couple michell syncro’s and to be honest I wish I had bought one of them at the time as it was quite reasonable. If I am honest its the looks that were apealing 🙂

I have quite nice pimped up Thorens TD-147 that’s not too shabby, that I would not want to sell. So having a Syncro as well seemed a bit of an indulgence 🙂

The phono stage on my Arcam Alpha 10 is playing up at the moment, luckily though its a plug in board, so I need to get a new one, or get this one sorted.

Email sent with stem, let me know if you need it changed in any way.

Cheers

Bazzer

PS it sounds weird listening to it without the backing track 🙂

@oldtennisshoes If its sounding flat(I am guessing you don’t mean out of tune 🙂 ) it could be impedance matching. Make sure you have the input set to an instrument and not a microphone.

@AdamT how do you want us to send the stems to you?

Does your 2i4 have pad on the inputs, both my guitars have pretty high gain humbuckers and I found even with the gain all the way down it would clip the input stage of the scarlet. I only have the 2i2 though.