I guess it depends on how long the role is and how long you are going to contract yourself out. I took an interim role - which was only ever (I hoped at the time) going to be short term I went with an umbrella organisation, which worked out fine for me at the time.
Best wishes
Stu

My lad is with umbrella company the things that they save you money on i would never had believed also you only have to change the ubrella company every 2 years but theres loads out there my lad is at bifab and the wages is good and everything is done for him ,theres even tory MPs on there books.

Regards Tojo

Looking for any papers on IEMA exam is in 4 months got put on this course accidently and the company cant get a refund can anyone help with old papers .

Thanks Tojo

I am a truck driver at the moment, still trying to become a safety advisor, but I use an Umbrella company for my pay through driver hire umbrella. I am happy to stick with them as I can claim the VAT on travelling, meals, laundry and other expenses as well as getting paid. Yes Umbrella takes money, but so too will an accountant if you become a company (unless you have accountancy skills).

The courts occasionally have people who swore blind their expenses were above board and that includes quite a few politicians, be warned.

tojo
What is this 'every 2 years change thing' all about as if it is the master servant relationship philosophy that is the question, which I think that it is, and tax/NI then there is no point in having anything other than a limited company as U get all that you can get through that as a limited company must be the best way to go as all barristers, doctors, MP's etc. that I know of are in that group so it must be the best way or is there something that I have missed noting that in all cases a person/business must have more than one client in any case otherwise they are classed as employed?

Sole trader; many clients/agencies do not want to know the sole trader situation these days

If you go with Umbrella then you will also pay Employers NI as well as Employees NI, so basically you will pay double NI.

Regards.

Safety Man,

I'm with Zyggy. If you are just starting then go for sole trader, especially if you are not selling 'stuff' or employing anyone. Go with sole trader for a while till you settle down but you might, like me and Zyggy just stick with that, I have for 7 years (I only work 2/3 days a week and may retire soon) and am able to do my own accounts, expenses, self assessments and pay tax online.

As sole-trader you'll pay income tax and NI, and don't need to VAT register if your turnover is under £81k. Very simple accounting.

This site seems to be up to date on sole trader matters:

http://www.startupdonut....stering-as-a-sole-trader

After researching all options since my semi retirement on the 30th of September this year from a full time PAYE role it appears that you need to do a full and formal analysis before U decide what is right for U as sole-trader, Ltd Company, agency and Umbrella routes all have positives and negatives attached so best of luck and as for fabricating expenses; the HMRC are fully aware of what is claimed by the self employed and as it is OK for HMRC it should be OK for U? Morality is a different thing!

To date >95% of the agencies [with agencies you need little if any marketing and sales thus U may save £!] that I have contacted want U to use an umbrella company even where U have your own formal limited company already in place in many cases, and none would touch a sole trader

A number of umbrella companies wanted me to use their own limited company set up system so what they were dong for me I did not know? And as they stated that they would be the employer when questioned about the H&S aspects of being an employer all rejected that area and said that they were only the agent [notice it went from being the employer to being the agent] as far as tax is concerned as U are the employer and the employee!!! - I checked this area with HMRC and they seemed to agree with the umbrella companies?

Sole trader appears to be OK but only if trust is really present which is not easy with new clients / possible clients and lots of 'contact making' needs to have already been done in most cases

People should be aware that in all cases irrespective of who the middle man is e.g. agency/umbrella limited company U are liable for your own tax even where U use an expensive accountant to work on your behalf! The end position is that U need to be as streetwise as the companies U are working for!

Best of luck