1st September 2008, 11:04 AM
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...
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...