As I have had the HGV licence for a fair while and have used it very little… best for me to aim for agency work as it will give me some much needed experience
And before anyone asks, No I don’t have a Lidl or aldi shopping bags and I don’t have a limp… Move pretty slow when my backs playing up but that’s about pretty much…
I’m based in the south, live near Guildford and am looking for some good agencies to registrar with… anyone got any recommendations…companies / agencies that are reliable and offer work consistently… Hopefully that can find something I’m looking for …
I would rather have to sort out my own tax and national insurance so this will mean going self employed, can anyone guide me in the right direction with that…
SammyT:
I would rather have to sort out my own tax and national insurance so this will mean going self employed, can anyone guide me in the right direction with that…
Any agency work you do doesn’t count as self employment under HMRC rules so from a legal point of view its a non-starter. People do do it, many get away with it but HMRC are clamping down and the record tax demand someone self employed on this forum has had is over £16,000.
You are also usually worse off as self employment rates tend to be only a quid an hour more than PAYE and as you get no holiday pay which you do on PAYE you’re worse off as there is nothing you can legitimately claim as self employed which you could not claim on PAYE.
no the record someone had was 16k with someone paying a 3rd party to do their accounting CONOR, as others have said either post a genuine link to what you post or give it a rest.
to answer the original question, me personally I would avoid the smaller agencies as these were always the ones I had issues with regarding payments errors etc. whilst the larger ones also make the mistakes they tended to sort them out, also have a look at what type of work you want or if its a specific contract/company find out who they use and go via them.
SammyT:
I would rather have to sort out my own tax and national insurance so this will mean going self employed, can anyone guide me in the right direction with that…
Any agency work you do doesn’t count as self employment under HMRC rules so from a legal point of view its a non-starter. People do do it, many get away with it but HMRC are clamping down and the record tax demand someone self employed on this forum has had is over £16,000.
My understanding of this is limited, but am I right to say HMRC don’t see you as self employed because you only have one client is the agency?
If that is the case, couldn’t you (legitimately) get round this by having more than one agency as a “customer”?
Captain Caveman 76:
My understanding of this is limited, but am I right to say HMRC don’t see you as self employed because you only have one client is the agency?
If that is the case, couldn’t you (legitimately) get round this by having more than one agency as a “customer”?
That can’t be all there is to it, otherwise anyone with an occasional second job could avoid PAYE completely on all their employments.
Has anyone here experienced a tax investigation as a run-of-the-mill agency driver, and has succeeded in establishing self-employed status?
Captain Caveman 76:
My understanding of this is limited, but am I right to say HMRC don’t see you as self employed because you only have one client is the agency?
If that is the case, couldn’t you (legitimately) get round this by having more than one agency as a “customer”?
More to do with the fact someone tells you where to go, what to do, when to do it and how to do it. To be self employed you would have to be told that X needs to get to Y by Z and then left completely up to your own devices as to what time you start, how you do it and even who you send to do the job - very very few agencies will ring you up to give you a shift and be happy with you sending in your mate for example. And once you’re there the agency’s client is effectively acting as your boss with you acting as an employee.
war1974:
no the record someone had was 16k with someone paying a 3rd party to do their accounting CONOR, as others have said either post a genuine link to what you post or give it a rest.
If you read the letter you’d see the name on the letter was the name of the posters own Ltd Company, not the third party and he got done because it was the small salary plus dividend method of getting paid.
Points 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 is where most fall down especially 3.
And it seems to be more a question, rather than “can”, of asking “do you hire someone else to do the work”, and what arrangements can you demonstrate for handling absences like holidays, sickness, or excess/overlapping work which you need help to complete.
Unless a very short-lived business, even a plumber can usually show examples of hiring someone else and of having commercial associates who can provide fall-back cover. At worst he could open the Yellow Pages. With drivers and agencies, I haven’t known this to happen.
We should be banging on the door of Number 11 to get our daft tax laws changed and simplified.
In my opinion, the only reason people are encouraged to go “self-employed” at ALL - is so the government can massage the unemployment figures.
FFS You are either employed - or you are NOT employed.
If there’s no job for you, so you decide to set yourself up in business, it can be like trying to compete with a cross channel ferry to get across the water - using a raft of your own construction instead!!
I don’t think the ease at which unsuitable people can become “self-employed” these days - protects the worker or the public from mishaps. It DOES protect the “firm” though, because too much of tax legislation requires one to be a dab hand at accounts - rather than doing a job well, safely, and getting paid a fair wage.
Self-employment needs to return to some kind of “bonded trader” of “guild” system. If you don’t hold the relevant qualifications in the field one intends setting up business in, then you should not be allowed to set up that business. We wouldn’t let Joe Bloggs set up as a GP, or Phil Ikey start a law practice - would we?
The same should apply to all those agencies who treat their laborers like pieces of meat. If the prospective new “Boss” could not step in and do your job for you - then how can you take them seriously when an unqualified suit sends you into a workplace that gives you some serious issues - only to be told “Dunno about that sonny. I only work here, and my qualifications are in bookkeeping!”.
Winseer:
I don’t think the ease at which unsuitable people can become “self-employed” these days - protects the worker or the public from mishaps. It DOES protect the “firm” though, because too much of tax legislation requires one to be a dab hand at accounts - rather than doing a job well, safely, and getting paid a fair wage.
Self-employment needs to return to some kind of “bonded trader” of “guild” system. If you don’t hold the relevant qualifications in the field one intends setting up business in, then you should not be allowed to set up that business. We wouldn’t let Joe Bloggs set up as a GP, or Phil Ikey start a law practice - would we?
What sort of qualification do you think would qualify an agency driver to be “self-employed”?
Winseer:
I don’t think the ease at which unsuitable people can become “self-employed” these days - protects the worker or the public from mishaps. It DOES protect the “firm” though, because too much of tax legislation requires one to be a dab hand at accounts - rather than doing a job well, safely, and getting paid a fair wage.
Self-employment needs to return to some kind of “bonded trader” of “guild” system. If you don’t hold the relevant qualifications in the field one intends setting up business in, then you should not be allowed to set up that business. We wouldn’t let Joe Bloggs set up as a GP, or Phil Ikey start a law practice - would we?
What sort of qualification do you think would qualify an agency driver to be “self-employed”?
the ability to read and write, pick and choose the days and where they work.
Winseer:
I don’t think the ease at which unsuitable people can become “self-employed” these days - protects the worker or the public from mishaps. It DOES protect the “firm” though, because too much of tax legislation requires one to be a dab hand at accounts - rather than doing a job well, safely, and getting paid a fair wage.
Self-employment needs to return to some kind of “bonded trader” of “guild” system. If you don’t hold the relevant qualifications in the field one intends setting up business in, then you should not be allowed to set up that business. We wouldn’t let Joe Bloggs set up as a GP, or Phil Ikey start a law practice - would we?
What sort of qualification do you think would qualify an agency driver to be “self-employed”?
NOT working for any middleman or third party, just the yard direct.
Thanks for the reply’s but I decided to call the HMRC and there direct answer was this…
There is nothing to stop me becoming self employed and working for agencies and paying my own tax and national insurances… HMRC have no issue with this… what they do have issues with is ppl doing work cash in hand and not paying taxes plus the companies they work for
So all in all it is not illegal to be self employed and drive trucks…
Winseer:
I don’t think the ease at which unsuitable people can become “self-employed” these days - protects the worker or the public from mishaps. It DOES protect the “firm” though, because too much of tax legislation requires one to be a dab hand at accounts - rather than doing a job well, safely, and getting paid a fair wage.
Self-employment needs to return to some kind of “bonded trader” of “guild” system. If you don’t hold the relevant qualifications in the field one intends setting up business in, then you should not be allowed to set up that business. We wouldn’t let Joe Bloggs set up as a GP, or Phil Ikey start a law practice - would we?
What sort of qualification do you think would qualify an agency driver to be “self-employed”?
NOT working for any middleman or third party, just the yard direct.
“Self-Employed” = you employed yourself.
so anyone who uses these bid for the work sites are not self employed then as they pay for the site to be the 3rd party?
and given how long most hauliers take to pay anything not many drivers could survive on 90 day terms for payments.
Thanks for the reply’s but I decided to call the HMRC and there direct answer was this…
There is nothing to stop me becoming self employed and working for agencies and paying my own tax and national insurances… HMRC have no issue with this… what they do have issues with is ppl doing work cash in hand and not paying taxes plus the companies they work for
So all in all it is not illegal to be self employed and drive trucks…
There isn’t anything to stop you becoming self-employed, that’s not what I’m curious about. Anyone can set up on their own (or attempt to, anyway).
The question is whether many drivers’ arrangements actually are self-employment - I find it hard to believe that the taxman has said you can just rename your job as “self-employment” (and gain all the tax advantages), and that this is fine with him.
Rjan:
What sort of qualification do you think would qualify an agency driver to be “self-employed”?
NOT working for any middleman or third party, just the yard direct.
“Self-Employed” = you employed yourself.
Well I actually thought qualifications was used here to mean training or apprenticeship or similar - the status of a master craftsman awarded by a guild.
But anyway, if you are working for a yard, surely you are not working for yourself? I don’t see that working direct for an employer implies self-employment - the opposite, if anything! Otherwise anyone not working for an agency (i.e. the vast majority of employees) would be “self-employed”.
SammyT:
Thanks for the reply’s but I decided to call the HMRC and there direct answer was this…
There is nothing to stop me becoming self employed and working for agencies and paying my own tax and national insurances… HMRC have no issue with this… what they do have issues with is ppl doing work cash in hand and not paying taxes plus the companies they work for
So all in all it is not illegal to be self employed and drive trucks…
You did what■■? You rang HMRC and spoke to them!! Why the hell would you want to do that when there are such paragons of virtue on here. What an insult to such knowledgeable souls to think you would not take their word.
Why the hell would you want to do that when there are such paragons of virtue on here. What an insult to such knowledgeable souls to think you would not take their word. 