lauralhardy:
Thanks for that. Do you know anything about the night out allowance for self employed owner driver. Tax man has said that I have over £3000 plus pentalty to give them over it.
Sent you a message.
Conor:
No it doesn’t. For a start the agency driver can also claim mileage which you already said was £2600 so you’ve just admitted they’re already £100 a year better off than you.
No I haven’t. An normal PAYE agency driver can claim tax relief on that £2600, which if you’re a basic rate taxpayer is 20% of that amount which is £520. So you’re still £2k better off S/E in my 40h example (or £3.5k in the 50h one).
Paul
Conor:
You also mentioned making sure that you pay yourself above the lower NI threshold. That means you’ll be also paying employers NI as well.
Not so, there are two relevant thresholds for NI, the Lower earnings level (LEL) and Primary Threshold (PT).
You get your NI stamp once you earn more than the LEL, but neither you or your employer pay any actual NI until you earn more than the PT.
So as long as your salary is between the two you get the stamp but pay no NI.
Paul
Further to my example I should also point out that if you only pay yourself a £7k salary that you will get a tax refund when you do your self assessment because the personal allowance is currently about £9400 so the first £2400 (i.e. £9400 - £7000) of dividends you have paid yourself have had tax paid on them that you will get back. So that’s another £480/year bonus.
Paul
Conor:
Put it this way. If the true costs to an employer paying someone £10/hr are more than £1/hr above that, how are you not being taken for a mug? Fact is you are being taken for a mug and its only by jumping through a load of hoops and in your own mind ignoring the fact an agency driver can claim many of the things you are that you’ve convinced yourself they’re not having you for a right idiot.
It is no doubt true that the agency are better off as well as you, but at the end of the day they’re out there to make money just the same as you are, why should you get all the benefit?
I’ll admit that if you’re purely doing agency work the benefits are not massive but it would be a fool who, once they are all set up as S/E, didn’t start trying to find themselves direct work at rates several £/h higher than the agency are paying.
Paul
I now clear more than i toplined on PAYE and even more since i am now VAT registered plus i call the shots. I don’t have to ask for a day off, i tell them when i am taking a day off. I hardly ever take time off and couldn’t manage 30 days off a year anyway so this suits me fine
repton:
Conor:
You also mentioned making sure that you pay yourself above the lower NI threshold. That means you’ll be also paying employers NI as well.
Not so, there are two relevant thresholds for NI, the Lower earnings level (LEL) and Primary Threshold (PT).
Employers NI is 10.4% on all pay over £7692 a year and 13.8% on all pay over £40,044.
scanny77:
I now clear more than i toplined on PAYE and even more since i am now VAT registered plus i call the shots. I don’t have to ask for a day off, i tell them when i am taking a day off.
I used to do that as an agency driver. Never had any problem getting work, even in the quiet times.
Conor:
scanny77:
I now clear more than i toplined on PAYE and even more since i am now VAT registered plus i call the shots. I don’t have to ask for a day off, i tell them when i am taking a day off.I used to do that as an agency driver. Never had any problem getting work, even in the quiet times.
i did my homework in october and chose who to work for in december based on who would keep me going in january and i chose the right mob. the bigger supermarkets volumes will go up and down by the trailerload but smaller ones that have 3 or 4 shops per trailer dont. they still have the same amount of shops to deliver to every day and with holiday ban in december, lots of drivers want time off in january
there is also the freedom to work for as many different agencies as you like without a tax penalty. i like a change of scenery sometimes and i can get it being self employed
If your self employed are you required to purchase public liability insurance…? A self employed hgv driver I know has it, but I dont see the point. Surely your covered whilst in the truck and whist on any customer premises.
Kneal:
If your self employed are you required to purchase public liability insurance…? A self employed hgv driver I know has it, but I dont see the point. Surely your covered whilst in the truck and whist on any customer premises.
Read the small print of the paperwork you where given by the agy/company, (you know… the papers no one ever reads) and see if theyve written in a clause that your liable for losses above £■■■ Ive see the small print of 1 agy where they are not liable for losses above £50K … the s/e driver is
Very good point, I’ll check that out…