How do you employers stay on the right side of the tax man?

[Rick2517]

we had a worker on farm on paye.. luckily he handed his notice in yr ago and got job outside of farming... never ever again.... i dont get paid if i'm sick. i dont get paid if i go on holiday and dont get paid when i'm ill so why the hell pay someone else to do all the above...

 

I may be wrong but I'm not sure it is a legal must to pay employees sick pay! I do but I know of a few that does not and I don't blame them!!

[Johny Walker]

we had a worker on farm on paye.. luckily he handed his notice in yr ago and got job outside of farming... never ever again.... i dont get paid if i'm sick. i dont get paid if i go on holiday and dont get paid when i'm ill so why the hell pay someone else to do all the above...

 

:laugh1:

[skyhuck]

I pay no wages at all. All guys who work for me bill a client for a job or 2 every week. I explain to client the situation and they get bill from one my guys for the tree work or logs they then give them a cheque. Simple.

 

Are your workers VAT registered???

 

If not, surly you are evading VAT??

[Highland Forestry]

I just posted alink to this document in the other thread about self employed/employed but in case anybody does not see it there, this may be of interest to anybody employing the services of a subbie, or an employee..

 

29_ForestryworkersemploymentstatusNov12.doc

[Paul Jenks]

The only legal requirement for sick pay, assuming it's not written into a contract of employment is Statutory Sick Pay and this only kicks in with a doctors note after seven days. (Used to be 3). The employer pays it and then claims it back from HMRC. We don't pay sick pay except SSP. Tends to keep people healthier.

 

Yes I do have the capacity to pay myself using dividends. It is a more tax efficient way of paying directors. Personally I'm not a big fan of this and so I'm paid a living wage and pay normal PAYE/NI. Virtually all our profit goes back into the business in training, premisis and kit. The rest stays in the business as working capital to fund growth. As alluded to earlier, my ideal is to make the working environment better for the staff. Ultimately this feeds back to make my life easier.

[gensetsteve]

I have read most of the thread not all so apologies if I repeat something. My understanding is as long as you subbies do less than 60% of their work for you and have their own expenses run their own vehicles and look for their own work the IR will be ok with it. The down side is if you pay a subby without deducting tax and they do a bunk or go bust you will be responsable for the unpaid tax. I would have thought the authorities should be grateful for the fact that people can find work and be prepared to do it. They need to focus their resources on the third generation lazy ******* that have no intension of ever working a day in their lives.

[Rick2517]

The only legal requirement for sick pay, assuming it's not written into a contract of employment is Statutory Sick Pay and this only kicks in with a doctors note after seven days. (Used to be 3). The employer pays it and then claims it back from HMRC. We don't pay sick pay except SSP. Tends to keep people healthier.

 

Yes I do have the capacity to pay myself using dividends. It is a more tax efficient way of paying directors. Personally I'm not a big fan of this and so I'm paid a living wage and pay normal PAYE/NI. Virtually all our profit goes back into the business in training, premisis and kit. The rest stays in the business as working capital to fund growth. As alluded to earlier, my ideal is to make the working environment better for the staff. Ultimately this feeds back to make my life easier.

 

sounds like you have a great business model there mate. You dont have to be earning big bucks to be successful in business. I would prefer to earn less then my employees and have a fantastic efficient business that has great team moral, top of the range equipment, steady growth and the ability to run its self without the constant managing by the owner. In my eyes these are all the things a business must have before you even think about taking money from it and I get more satisfaction from running a business in this way then any amount of money will give me and im glad im not alone....

[gensetsteve]

A business is a way of making money to pay your mortgage support your family and feed your children. If enough people treat business as a hobby everyone will need to have new equipment work 100 hrs a week and live on the bread line. I understand when starting business if you are young you can fast track it to better success by taking less out for 3 years. But I see a few people owning businesses now in their forties still working 70 hrs a week and they are skint. Why ?

[likeitorlumpit]

Paul

It sounds like we run a similar business model.

All are employed- they get holiday/bank hols but only SSP which as you say keeps everyone healthy:001_smile:

I get paid holiday too and will be taking dividends when we start on them. It works well - staff have responsibility and a certain degree of autonomy. Kit is kept in pretty good condition and regularly renewed. There is a staff training budget. There is a PPE budget.

Growth has been steady but not spectacular. I don't want the business to control me. (Famous last words)

I agree PAYE quarterly bills are large but lets face it, most is the employees tax/N.I. anyway so we can't complain. VAT bills are nearly into 5 figures quarterly though rising. Can't complain about that as it's not my money. I do though think VAT needs to be reduced to help reduce evasion which is happening increasingly.

It may appear that having subbies is the good deal but in reality not so sure.

My biggest issue is keeping up to date with legislation and with H&S issues.

[Rick2517]

A business is a way of making money to pay your mortgage support your family and feed your children. If enough people treat business as a hobby everyone will need to have new equipment work 100 hrs a week and live on the bread line. I understand when starting business if you are young you can fast track it to better success by taking less out for 3 years. But I see a few people owning businesses now in their forties still working 70 hrs a week and they are skint. Why ?

 

Of course you need to earn a living and have a quality of life. Everyone wants different things from there business some want to get rich some are happy taking less and sharing more out, im just agreeing with the guys outlook on his business. Of course not everyone will have the same feelings about it. After all its a bloody hard industry to work in yet alone run a business in so why shouldn't the financial benefits pay off!! As life goes on my feelings may change but right now thats how im looking at it.