I’m thinking of going Ltd Co. Any advice on the book keeping side would be appreciated, or any other general information too.
Ive been Ltd since april still take work from agency but also have direct on the books, suits me as for VAT i think unless your earning £70,000 you dont need to get involved as for insurance i dont have any as you run on the companys insurance that you are working for dont forget they are hiring you in. Get a good accountant or if your brave do it yourself. me takes about 2 hours each week to do all my paperwork and i keep more than I should have. (Paperwork that is)
Trucker56:
Ive been Ltd since april still take work from agency but also have direct on the books, suits me as for VAT i think unless your earning £70,000 you dont need to get involved as for insurance i dont have any as you run on the companys insurance that you are working for dont forget they are hiring you in. Get a good accountant or if your brave do it yourself. me takes about 2 hours each week to do all my paperwork and i keep more than I should have. (Paperwork that is)
When you say you don’t get involved with VAT do you mean you’re not VAT registered?, I thought it would be a must in this game with most of the companies I would work for being VAT registered?
I believe it’s very beneficial to register for the flat rate VAT scheme. Basically you charge VAT at 20% but only pay the VAT man 10% or something similar. So you make money by doing the VAT mans job! Seems fair enough to me.
Doc Hollyday:
I believe it’s very beneficial to register for the flat rate VAT scheme. Basically you charge VAT at 20% but only pay the VAT man 10% or something similar. So you make money by doing the VAT mans job! Seems fair enough to me.
That was my understanding as well after doing some reading on the subject.
My accountant said if your not earning £70,000+ its not worth the paperwork, its just numbers going round in circles.
Trucker56:
My accountant said if your not earning £70,000+ its not worth the paperwork, its just numbers going round in circles.
How much are you paying for advice like this?
Herongate:
Mortgages / Getting finance - haven’t had any issues, never been declined any financing. Despite the fact I pay myself a very low wage. Most banks etc (particularly the one you bank with) understand why people go Ltd Co and see what you really earn..
Mortgages have tightened up a lot this year
AF1:
I’m in the process of becoming a ltd co and sounded a couple of agencies out as to the rates, driving isn’t going to be the mainstay of the business but another revenue stream, when asking about the rates and whether they are inclusive if VAT I received the following reply:How it works is we process your hours on a weekly basis and you send us an invoice with a breakdown of your hours plus your VAT. Our head office then process the wages and pay your VAT
Is this normal? And if so do they pay the VAT direct to HMRC on my behalf? And what if I’m registered to use a flat rate scheme?
Maybe you should attend a free 2hr training seminar called “how vat works” run by the HMRC business education unit (B.E.S.T)
Then maybe consider a couple of others inc " becoming a director"
Trucker56:
Get a good accountant or if your brave do it yourself. me takes about 2 hours each week to do all my paperwork and i keep more than I should have. (Paperwork that is)
For most of us its takes around 10-15 minutes to “do the books” each week.
In my case that includes the odd timesheet, raising the 1 or 2 invoices and making any online banking payments or checking payments owed have go into the bank, and setting aside monies for taxes due and rainy day money
I’m self employed Ltd. company and have been for quite some years now. I’ve tried Nova, when they first began robbing drivers, but quit with them when Gordon Brown closed the loophole.
There is no requirement to register for vat until you “expect” to earn somewhere in the region of 70k, not accurate figure and I don’t care at this stage.
The benefit to a self employed limited company driver of registering for “flat rate vat” is basically awarding yourself a 10% pay rise. The online form to fill out every 3 months is so easy that even a dcpc trained lgv driver could do it and you basically only enter 2 figures into the form. The total earnings inclusive of vat, then times this figure by 10% to give the amount of vat you will be liable for. (9% in the first year).
Example:
You earn £1000
Times this by 20% ( current vat rate) = £1200
Times this by the rate relevant to your industry, ours is 9% for the first year and 10% for every subsequent year = £108 to the vat man, so £1200 - 108 = a bonus for you of £92 simply for registering as a flat rate user.
Now, you DO NOT let agencies dictate to you what the rate is otherwise you are not deemed to be self employed under IR35 rules. Also they will see you as an easy touch and gladly rip you off as much as they can.
Let me give you a little example here, A man I work with who is also allegedly self employed recently received a text message from his agency informing him of the new pay rise rate. It was informing him that he would now be on £10.50 per hour for night work. The text also asked him not to discuss this fantastic rate with any other driver or it would be withdrawn.
I informed the very same agency what MY new charge rate would be as of this coming Sunday and lets just say he is on around £1.50 per hour less than me for exactly the same job. So YOU need to take control and charge what you are worth are what you think you can get from them.
Truckbling:
I’m self employed Ltd. company and have been for quite some years now. I’ve tried Nova, when they first began robbing drivers, but quit with them when Gordon Brown closed the loophole.There is no requirement to register for vat until you “expect” to earn somewhere in the region of 70k, not accurate figure and I don’t care at this stage.
The benefit to a self employed limited company driver of registering for “flat rate vat” is basically awarding yourself a 10% pay rise. The online form to fill out every 3 months is so easy that even a dcpc trained lgv driver could do it and you basically only enter 2 figures into the form. The total earnings inclusive of vat, then times this figure by 10% to give the amount of vat you will be liable for. (9% in the first year).
Example:
You earn £1000
Times this by 20% ( current vat rate) = £1200
Times this by the rate relevant to your industry, ours is 9% for the first year and 10% for every subsequent year = £108 to the vat man, so £1200 - 108 = a bonus for you of £92 simply for registering as a flat rate user.Now, you DO NOT let agencies dictate to you what the rate is otherwise you are not deemed to be self employed under IR35 rules. Also they will see you as an easy touch and gladly rip you off as much as they can.
Let me give you a little example here, A man I work with who is also allegedly self employed recently received a text message from his agency informing him of the new pay rise rate. It was informing him that he would now be on £10.50 per hour for night work. The text also asked him not to discuss this fantastic rate with any other driver or it would be withdrawn.
I informed the very same agency what MY new charge rate would be as of this coming Sunday and lets just say he is on around £1.50 per hour less than me for exactly the same job. So YOU need to take control and charge what you are worth are what you think you can get from them.
Hi Truckbling
So do you bill the agencies £12 ph + vat or is that inclusive.
Regards,
Jeff. 
YorkshireJeff:
Truckbling:
I’m self employed Ltd. company and have been for quite some years now. I’ve tried Nova, when they first began robbing drivers, but quit with them when Gordon Brown closed the loophole.There is no requirement to register for vat until you “expect” to earn somewhere in the region of 70k, not accurate figure and I don’t care at this stage.
The benefit to a self employed limited company driver of registering for “flat rate vat” is basically awarding yourself a 10% pay rise. The online form to fill out every 3 months is so easy that even a dcpc trained lgv driver could do it and you basically only enter 2 figures into the form. The total earnings inclusive of vat, then times this figure by 10% to give the amount of vat you will be liable for. (9% in the first year).
Example:
You earn £1000
Times this by 20% ( current vat rate) = £1200
Times this by the rate relevant to your industry, ours is 9% for the first year and 10% for every subsequent year = £108 to the vat man, so £1200 - 108 = a bonus for you of £92 simply for registering as a flat rate user.Now, you DO NOT let agencies dictate to you what the rate is otherwise you are not deemed to be self employed under IR35 rules. Also they will see you as an easy touch and gladly rip you off as much as they can.
Let me give you a little example here, A man I work with who is also allegedly self employed recently received a text message from his agency informing him of the new pay rise rate. It was informing him that he would now be on £10.50 per hour for night work. The text also asked him not to discuss this fantastic rate with any other driver or it would be withdrawn.
I informed the very same agency what MY new charge rate would be as of this coming Sunday and lets just say he is on around £1.50 per hour less than me for exactly the same job. So YOU need to take control and charge what you are worth are what you think you can get from them.
Hi Truckbling
So do you bill the agencies £12 ph + vat or is that inclusive.
Regards,
Jeff.
+VAT.
Personally I wouldn’t get out of bed for those rates. 
Left hand down!:
Personally I wouldn’t get out of bed for those rates.
That’s not what I’ve heard and I want something doing about it! 
Left hand down!:
Personally I wouldn’t get out of bed for those rates.
How much time do you spend in bed ? 
YorkshireJeff:
Left hand down!:
Personally I wouldn’t get out of bed for those rates.How much time do you spend in bed ?
Not enough. I might have to put my rates up even more!
I’m thinking of going self employed. I’m based in Warrington, what sort of rate should I charge for class 1 on days? I’ve been quoted about £10 per hour plus maybe overtime rate up to time and half, but this sounds a bit on the low side to me.
Doc Hollyday:
I’m thinking of going self employed. I’m based in Warrington, what sort of rate should I charge for class 1 on days? I’ve been quoted about £10 per hour plus maybe overtime rate up to time and half, but this sounds a bit on the low side to me.
The first rule of going it alone is to know your market. Are local firms screaming out for drivers? if so you can ask that bit more than you would normally dare. Also bear in mind the costs associated with the dcpc and the workforce shortage it is creating, go in high and work from there.
I’m not in your area so don’t know the market conditions but I would certainly not be going in any less than £11 per hour with time and a half overtime. Have you got a good name locally? that will certainly help.
an accountant told me for parity
you want paye rate plus 13%
My previous employer is really struggling to get agency drivers at the moment and the standard of many of them is poor. I do have a good reputation with the employer I had prior to my last one. Ten years without any problems and a good accident/safety record. My last employer probably wouldn’t give me a reference - I jacked due to them expecting me to break the law. I’m taking a bit of time out and trying to get a feel for what the market is like in the area, thats why I need the help of fellow truckers. What do you charge agencies in your area?