Edit, wrong thread.
My head is spinning 
Ok lets try to simplify things …Lets say
(1) I work for an agency and i do 50 hrs per week
They pay me £9 per hr = £450 then i pay my tax ni and i take home whats left
(2) I work for an agency and i do 50 hrs per week but i am a limited driver
?
so what would i get as a limited driver ?
More than you would if on PAYE an a normal employee.
Basically, your mileage to get to work, meals you have whilst at work, work clothing/safety boots etc etc… get offset against the tax that you pay so to give you a rough understanding…
Firstly most agencies increase the hourly rate by £1 an hour for Ltd drivers so it would become 50 x 10 = £500 for a start. The rate that you can claim mileage to and from work is set at 45p for the first 10000 miles so say you do 20 miles per day commute, you would do 45p x 20 x 5 days = £45, say a meal a day at £5 x 5 = £25, lets leave it at that to keep it simple. Lastly you take a salary of £8000 per year so £153 per week.
So youve got 500 - 45 - 25 = 430 - 153 = 277
You then take 20% corporation tax from the taxable amount for that week which is 277, so you’re left with 221.60.
Then add the expenses that you offset against your tax so it becomes 221.60 + 45 + 25 + your wage of 153 = £444.60 is what you would take home.
Thats my understanding of it anyway and should give you a bit of an insight on how it works.
Its works in a similar way being self employed or through an ‘umbrella’ company.
Something I should mention is that if you do either, you’ll lose your right to holiday pay and sick pay which you’ll now be entitled to with your agency. Ltd, you could still draw a wage if you’re sick or on holiday actually so there you go… 
Work out the pros and cons of each way and what you would get PAYE as you are now, weigh up the extra work you have to do with being self employed or going the Ltd route. The decision is yours…
So i would pay just £5.40 in deductions
No, you would be paying £55.40 in deductions.
I know how you’re looking at it and yes, if you take the hourly rate that you’re currently on then it would equate to that. Like I said though, you have to factor in the fact that you will no longer get any holiday pay entitlement into that plus accountant fees etc, plus the extra time you have to do your book keeping etc.
Theres more to it but thats the basics of it really, as far as I understand it anyway.
On the above scenario you not have any paye or Ni to paye but you would be credited tour stamp by hrmc as you wage would be below the minimum level to attract Ni payments as rules for company directors are slightly different than sole trader which everway you put it you are never an employee and will have to submit a self assesment each year
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alix776:
On the above scenario you not have any paye or Ni to paye but you would be credited your stamp by hrmc as you wage would be below the minimum level to attract Ni payments as rules for company directors are slightly different than sole trader which everway you put it you are never an employee and will have to submit a self assesment each year
You are correct, the limits for NI contributions are HERE and any S/E or Ltd driver who has enough NI contribution years in, could legally avoid paying NI etc by paying themself a wage or drawings that fall in the middle ground, but yet be credited with suitable level of NI stamp.
These thresholds used to be:
£0 ->£97 (per week) - no stamp paid, non accrued
£97 → £115 (per week) no stamp paid, but a stamp accrued as above
£116+ (per week) falls into the 11% band (11% paid by employee + 11% paid by employer)
I personnelly fall under the directors catagory, but for other reasons found myself 1yr short of the 30yrs & have recently been given the option to pay the final year contributions with a 1 off payment of £371. As for submitting a self assessment, I too have to file 1 of those, albeit for £NIL income. But the irony of the self assessment, was that recently HMRC credited me with £400+ for over payment of contributions acumilated from the various agencies I`d worked for in the previous years, so it made the 1 off payment of £371 for NI a no brainer
Would it be easier to go with a company like this maxipay.co.uk/
thetastytrucker:
Would it be easier to go with a company like this maxipay.co.uk/
NO!
if your wife or girlfriend does your books and maybe set up some kind if ither small business then you could use both paye tax codes and make huge savings this only really works if your misses is a stay at home non worker and a good way to duck and dive from the csa
peirre:
thetastytrucker:
Would it be easier to go with a company like this maxipay.co.uk/NO!
Why
umberealla company you run the risk of them folding and not paying you the money dont do it vermin will take your cash do it yourself only way to be safe
So you set up at a ltd company and the agency pay you
so who do you declare your expenses to ?
No, you the agency pay the company and the company pays you.
Expenses are declared to HMRC as far as I know.
If you dont like the sounds of the complexity then an umbrella company may be easier for you. You’ll still take home more than you’re doing on PAYE as you’ll be claiming for expenses each week which is offset against your tax but pay them a fee each week (each umbrella company charge you their fee in a slightly different way) to do most of the work for you, put by each week the tax and NI you need to be paying and pay it all to the tax man for you when it needs paying etc.
Something for you to think about anyway.
Whats the most reputable umbrella company out there ?
so you say the agency pay my ltd company then i do the book work ?
thetastytrucker:
Whats the most reputable umbrella company out there ?so you say the agency pay my ltd company then i do the book work ?
There isn’t one.
Basicly if you want to pay a company IRO £1000/yr to pay you your wages then go for an umbrella company. But if you’ve got a bit about you, you can do it yourself and possibly pay an accountant IRO £300/yr.
Also, not all umbrellas are acceptable to the agencies. I’ve rang round 4 different ones this week and have a list of 8 different umbrella companies that are acceptable. None of witch are acceptable to the railway agency that I’m looking at too 
Personally I prefer PAYE, but looks like I’m going to have to go LTD. Still cheaper than the umbrella though.
thetastytrucker:
so you say the agency pay my ltd company then i do the book work ?
YES
Sometimes I wonder why people blindly go, or are pushed into self employment or setting up a Ltd Co without fully understanding the situation, and the background work involved just to work for an agency. A subject that has been flogged to death on TNUK.
I have an idiot proof spreadsheet for bookkeeping (that im not sharing) that I knocked up which only requires the inputting of the date & nett invoice amount. It then works out everything else I need, inc the various amounts of taxes/VAT, my drawings + a % of rainy day money to set aside for the bleak season & holidays and gives me a total figure of monies to set aside into my business savings account.
A 2nd spreadsheet is setup for invoicing. Using both to do all my paperwork & bookkeeping takes me 10-15 minutes per week (inc online banking) + 5-10mins every quarter for a Online VAT rtn.
So why the hell should I pay another bookkeeper (an umbrella Co) to figure all that out when I’ve gone to the trouble of understanding, & learning how to do it myself. Something many drivers are unwilling to do. But I have saved myself £100’s per year by doing so
Can anyone recommend a good accountant, preferably in the Midlands as the one Ive been talking to seems OK and while he has 35 drivers on his books, he wants a fair whack per year. £750 + VAT to be exact, thats to sort out my VAT and whatever else is needed accounts-wise for a Ltd company, I still feel its a bit much and have heard of people paying in the region of £250.
Thats steep.
Currently pay a total of around £500 for self employed (not ltd) and a farm with a buisness partner residing in another country. Been told going ltd will add about another 100 ontop. But I do all the vat and hand it to him all on spread sheets with numbered up invoices