Self Employed Diggers Again

[Unitof1]

Although there is a qualification route of being absent for all but ninety days in the first year to being non-resident for tax purposes, it seems to me that anybody in this country, or any other, making a statement in their own country to go off and earn a living in an other country is qualifying themselves as self-employed in their home country.

Purely as logic, it then follows that to be self employed requires the statement of intent, which as it happens, since 2 years ago, is what the inland revenue requires of anybody intending to go self-employed and with a heavy fine if ignored. It seems to me that mr host has missed this very important qualification off the -are you or not self-employed list;, Tell the tax office that you are self-employed

A statement of intent, qualified by simply informing ones tax office…

Host when you went self-employed did you inform your tax office?

[BAJR Host]

Yes indeed... and when beign both employed and self employed .. always informing the Tax Office... as it means changes in your tax code.. and NI contributions.

With my latest venture... when I am going into partnership with another... once again tax office informed.. start date of business decided... etc... another tax hoop... but one you rightly say.. you MUST do.

I of missed it off... as anyone claiming to be self employed would of course have to have registered this with the Tax Office - or they would be lying... and I would not presume that anyone acting in a self employed would break the law ... or that a company would be party to it. Often companies try and create an agreement which passes responsibility over to the individual - ie

You must have the correct insurance.. OR you must look after your own tax, as per the legal requirements... in the hope this absolves them... Sadly (for them) it does not.... as if it comes to light that they are indeed employed then they have defrauded the tax office of NI contributions. OR if an accident happens and it turns out the person does not have accident insurance... then their PI and PL does not quite cover the 'sub contractor'.

It all comes down to what a person does.... can a digger be self employed... as I said before... YES.... however... to be self employed, you must comply with the list. above.



"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[chrysalis]

I think I worked for this company...

whether you make money depends on the mileage basically. I have commuted 90 miles per day for a higher wage only to end up with less at the end of it. If you have to travel, even local distances, and you can arrange to carshare with another employee then it becomes 40p per mile not 20p per mile which puts you in profit. or did before fuel soared to ridiculous heights. Pro rata the amount of time that you were self-employed and apply that to ALL your car expenses, repairs, road tax etc, plus registering your home as an office(if you're not in rented accom cos then it would mess up your agreement with your landlord)and then pro-rata a percentage of your phoneline/utility bills etc. It requires
1. saving every single bill you ever use for the whole year not just the self-employed period
2. stretching the tax office to its limit on agreeable expense
3. self-discipline to save the money you need for tax as you earn and put it in a seperate account for the 18 months later when they actually ask for it.

The main trouble i had with this system was no sick leave, so if you get ill this carefully crafted balance goes out of the window and you are screwed.plus its a lot of hassle and you have to keep careful track of things like mileage and work-related phone calls even when you aren't self-employed so you know what proportion you can claim for.it also messes up getting dole if you have been self-employed and are between jobs. and having that amount of money saved in your bank account can be inconvenient if you have debts - try explaining to student loans that they can't have it because its just 'resting in your account' and belongs to the inland revenue in 6 months time. they don't like it. to sum up, its worth doing if you are very organised and there's no other work about, otherwise steer clear

one girl went to dig, went to dig a meadow...

[BAJR Host]

Thanks for that honest and useful post Chrysalis.. and milage should be about 40p a mile !

When looking at this case more.. and finding that by the time you take off all the things you mention, plus remove the holiday, sick etc, the rate falls way below the level of minimums. So will be removing them from BAJR... and no more adverts will be allowed, until this is sorted to my satisfaction.... which as it stands it has not.



"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[BAJR Host]

The Company was contacted today and it was explained that the rates offered to people as self employed - £60
as evidenced by emails sent to me by individuals would indeed bring the actual rate of pay to less than the G2 minimum. As adverts in the past had never mentioned self employment, this was a breach of the terms for advertising on BAJR and for inclusion in the contractor database. Viewing an agreement by the said company, confirms they expect the person not only to be self employed and deal with their own tax, but to have their own accident and sickness insurance. It is clear that some of those who work as 'self employed' for this company do not have any of these requirements. This would effectively mean a nullified insurance claim, for whatever accidents, injuries etc, that the person was involved in. It would be wrong of me to knowingly allow people to place themselves in this situation. I will pass this information to the IFA, in order that they can make a descision on whether to allow adverts by them to appear in the JIS - they are not an RAO and so are not bound by IFA rules.



"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[Austin Ainsworth]

[u]POLITE REMINDER</u>

Before anybody replies to this please bear in mind the AUP - [u]NO COMPANY NAMES</u>

[trowelfodder]

Thats wicked news, nice one mr c, any improvement in the lot of the digger is always good news and hopefully this has made people far more aware of the potential pitfalls. :face-approve:

[BAJR Host]

One tries... one gives as much help as is possible to everyone... whether digger or contracting company - but when push comes to shove... I have to stand by what I stand for... otherwise, whats the point?

"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[kevin wooldridge]

I understand what you are saying David in that the 'real' wage this company are offering falls below the BAJR minima and therefore the company can't advertise that wage on BAJR, but.....have we actually estbalished whether staff employed by said company are 'employed' or 'self employed'?.

It strikes me that a simple test of that status would be a better criteria for BAJR to use than one of trying to calculate the 'real' value of a self-employed wage. I am also thinking of an ad earlier this year for a company in the SE of England, also looking to employ staff on a self-employed basis to which several BAJRites posted comments.

[BAJR Host]

Which I checked and went over the details - the people are indeed being self employed... this included all the requirements, insurances, etc

the difference here, is a bit more ... shall we say fluffy round the edges... and there are other problems. Ones that I won't go into here. As far as I am concerned they are employed - and if self employed (which is also a possibility, then they are being paid nuppence - considering what they must provide. I am not so much trying to calculate real worth . I have calculated .. as many of us have, and it is not 60 quid a day. -

As you are aware deciding on employed status is not a simple matter... (my contacts with some people confirm some of my concerns however) the best thing to do, under the circumstances, as they are not providing evidence to the contrary is to use a mechanism that is clear...

Are you paying BAJR rates? NO.... in that case you can't advertise. simple... and I will, when I return from Jordan, delve further. It is difficult to do from a Jordanian survey

Hope that clears up things

"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers