What would going self employed from employed involve?

[tigwig]

My OH has been employed for around 2-3yrs now. Before the recession he had always been a SE bricklayer. The company he works for now has taken on more men who are SE and they earn £100 a week more than he does. The only benefit he has from being employed is 5 weeks paid holiday a year. Obviously the extra pay he would get would be better than this over the year so I'm not too bothered about it. His employer did mention a few months back about having all the lads SE but they werent keen. If my OH were to do that again is it that easy?

[albaqwerty]

The most amazing amount of paperwork to answer your first question.

Mr Alba did the SE route before we married.

Prepare to argue your case when it comes to sending in your Tax Return. If you put 20 quid of petrol in your car, then that has to be for work purposes etc

(Hopefully someone will come along with more recent advice)

[sddsddean]

Reading between the lines, I think you are after the pros and cons of SE. I'm currently SE, so I'll have a go!

Pros

Generally speaking you will earn more than someone employed.
Your time is your own...if you don't want to work, you don't have to and can pick your holidays (we're off for 5 weeks soon).
For someone like your OH, you can go and work for another subbie pretty easily.

Cons

You have no job security...if you don't work, you don't get paid! There is no monthly wage to fall back on. Remember, this includes illness (even if you have a cold, you might not work) or injury, and of course no paid holidays!
You have got to sort out your pension, income tax, NI stamps, VAT payment (if you earn more than £71,000pa). Most of this I do myself, but have my accounts done once a year as I don't profess to understand the tax laws!

Overall, you have more flexibility SE, but no security. However, lets say the building trade bottomed out even more than it is now and your OH had to get a job working for Mc Donalds (for instance). Thats OK, as working as an employed person for part of the year is a contingency allowed for on your Tax Return, so its nor like you can never work employed again. Has he got anyone he can talk to with personal experience as a brickie? I've been SE for 18 years now and have no problems. Like anything else, if you wait until the figures 'add up' in your favour, you'll never make the jump. Go SE and you'll probably be OK. I had a quick look on the net and there is a lot of stuff out there. Have a look at http://www.adviceguid...loyment_checklist.htm
You would want to be looking at the 'Sole Trader' stuff (assuming he is not employing anyone else). Good luck!

[tigwig]

Thanks we are not worried about paperwork as done plenty of tax returns before and they are only the easier short ones.
I suppose its the expenses that would be harder to state if he were to do his present job as SE as he doesnt actually pay for any fuel himself like he did before. I guess we will just have to wait and see what his employer says anyway.

[sddsddean]

This where a good accountant comes in handy, as he/she should know the sort of things.
One easy way to cover fuel is to get a fuel card (I'm a truck driver, so this is an easy bit for me!). Assuming your OH has a van or something, everything on the card is for work, so can be used in VAT returns. You can also claim for tools, workclothes (and washing them), safety gear, use of your home (bit of elecric, telephone etc). As long as you don't claim 'silly' amounts, these should all be OK.