Advantages Of Going Self Employed With Utr Number Through Umbrella Company

[dieseldick]

if i were to go self employed and got myself UTR number, what are the advantages of this , is it a hassle ? can i make substantial savings ? i called an agent and they want all theyre guys to have a UTR seems this is getting more of a regular thing now. before i went through umbrella company and i just gave in my fuel reciepts and hotel reciets etc and not too much hassle but very little benefit to me i dont think.

advice plz. thnks

[Marshwarble]

Just means you can deal with your NI contributions or tax. I don't know when your colleagues went to an umbrella company but there are no tax offices now, unless you went to the CAB or employed an accountant you have to sort it out yourself.

[New Judge]

Before you worry about a UTR you first need to consider whether you are eligible to become self employed, dick. This guide might help:

https://www.gov.uk/employment-status

[Sycamore3House]

Getting a UTR is easy just have a look at this link. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment.

You probably can make savings. Any NI will need to be paid by yourself and you need to fill in a return which you can do online which is self explanatory.
Your personal allowance will be £10,8000 from April 5th 2016.

[dieseldick]

if say my earnings were approx £1400 per week would going down this route save me money or just give me a headache.

is there anyone using UTR on here and whats the advantage. everywhere i apply for work now are asking for my UTR...it wasnt like this in past , seems that this is the done thing now for whatever reason i do not know.

[fiction-factory]

The tax rules for working via umbrella companies are changing significantly in April this year. Many of the things contractors could claim as expenses to set off against tax and NI will no longer be claimable. It may be different if you are genuinely self-employed rather than just a contractor employed via the umbrella company

[whiskeryron]

The difficulty with working for an umbrella company is knowing whether or not to take your own umbrella to work or borrow one of theirs when it is raining.

[fiction-factory]

The tax?NI avoidance that you could get via umbrella companies were all done at the contractor's risk. Contractors paid less tax and NI but did have to pay employer's NI and a payroll admin fee normally. It could save quite a bit overall but HMRC could always ask to see your receipts and challenge the claims if they felt they were not incurred wholly,
exclusively and necessarily in the performance of your duties.
Have a look at the new regulations that come in in April this year
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-employment-intermediaries-and-relief-for-travel-and-subsistence/income-tax-employment-intermediaries-and-relief-for-travel-and-subsistence

[Sycamore3House]

if you earn £1400 per week that is £72k per annum. I think you can and should employ an account to help with your taxation.

[Dogsbody2]

Under the CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) which Dick, since you work in the construction industry, you will no doubt be familiar with, construction contractors not only have to deduct NI/tax at source from subbies, but also they have to check that their subbies are registered for self-employment. That is forced upon contractors by HMRC by making sure that they give HMRC the UTR numbers of all their subbies. That way HMRC can tie back payments made to subbies against the tax return made by the subbies for their personal income. Apparently some subbies were still finding ways of avoiding paying some tax/NI on their self-employed earnings in the construction industry; can you believe it? Just having NI numbers for subbies wasn't proving enough for HMRC - computer kept saying 'no'.

FF has covered what's happening in terms of changes to umbrella companies shortly (which is a wider issue than the CIS scheme). Not worth it for you.

[pixie374]

Yes, I have one. Lower NI contributions, plus everything FF has said. I keep a cash book through the year, which is very straightforward and throw that, the receipts, invoices and bank statements at an accountant once a year for the returns (£200 per return). Without a doubt better off than being employed.