Hi, my first post. I have looked on the search and as far as I can make out umbrella company is some sort of tax dodge ? I applied to a national name that hires drivers and in the bumph it says it pays through umbrella. As in reality the most I will earn in a year would be aprox £5000 I would not pay tax anyway , so is an umbrella a definite no no ? Thanks in advance
I’d say so, yes. Tell them you want PAYE or you are not playing.
Even if you wouldn’t be paying tax I guess you would still have to pay NI contributions.
(Unless you are retired of course) 
I still have to pay in contributions not quite there yet
Odd days:
so is an umbrella a definite no no ? Thanks in advance
Whilst at the moment its perfectly legal, its a no-no if you’re on a low wage. They charge the same weekly fee regardless of whether you earn £50 or £500.
Conor:
Odd days:
so is an umbrella a definite no no ? Thanks in advanceWhilst at the moment its perfectly legal, its a no-no if you’re on a low wage. They charge the same weekly fee regardless of whether you earn £50 or £500.
Exactly. It’s about 20 quid a week to use an umbrella company.
I’m guessing your working 1 day a week so 20 quid is quite a chunk unless you are on a mega rate.
The other option is to go Self Employed.
Not all agencies do PAYE now - the scamming gits - but you can’t be forced to pay for the umbrella scheme, so just tell them you’ll invoice them directly each week and get 100% of your money, then pay your own NI and do a tax declaration each year.
I`ve stated many times that the only umbrella you should use is 1 of these:
All others should be avoided
peirre:
I`ve stated many times that the only umbrella you should use is 1 of these:
All others should be avoided
I don’t have a perm, so I’ll ignore that type of umbrella too 
It’s not worth the umbrella fees unless you are on £16ph plus imho
£27 for a £750 paypacket as opposed to “no fees” for a £500 one, same hours same job - is about the only way umbrella can be “worth the money” so to speak.
And regarding the remark about Retired Once drawing a pension, you dont pay N.I. ( but you have to apply for an exemption card ) but you still pay tax. It is worked out at the end of the tax year, and if you have been working during the year, they then add the pension and other income, and tax you on the lot, so is either taken out of you next years earnings via the tax system, or you send them a cheque. They told me i had gone over my limit by £80, and the next year, because i never worked so much, they sent me a rebate of £98…so thats ok then.
I’ve just had a letter from HMRC, regarding tax codes; One is for my new employer, the second regards “Outsource Contracting Limited.” These are the umbrella providers for Driver Hire who I worked for briefly last January-February. Basically HMRC say that the umbrella will use “BR” as their basis for taxing, which I’m concerned about as I don’t work for them anymore and have no intention to again. Does this mean I’m paying tax on a job/wage that doesn’t exist or is it IF I earn any money through them?
Yes.
Muckaway:
I’ve just had a letter from HMRC, regarding tax codes; One is for my new employer, the second regards “Outsource Contracting Limited.” These are the umbrella providers for Driver Hire who I worked for briefly last January-February. Basically HMRC say that the umbrella will use “BR” as their basis for taxing, which I’m concerned about as I don’t work for them anymore and have no intention to again. Does this mean I’m paying tax on a job/wage that doesn’t exist or is it IF I earn any money through them?
Ring your local tax office and get them to shift your allowances to your current employer. BR is basic rate which means they have none of your allowances anyway, but if your not going to do any work for them then don’t worry, just get the HMRC to remove them from your employers list.
I’d avoid umbrella myself as I’d never justify the expenditure verses the tax “benefits” and I use that word advisedly because umbrellas are good for the agency but not necessarily the driver, they not only shunt their payroll costs, they also reduce their bill by the employers NI contributions too; and in some cases the hourly rate barely increases so they are paying the same so the driver looses out again.
The biggest issue is that a lot of drivers here have been caught out because they have unwittingly signed up to a umbrella whilst being given the impression they are PAYE, then get a tax bill from HMRC at a later date.
So you can chuck some agents in with journalists and politicians as the low life pariahs of society…
Winseer:
Yes.
To which?
Hi, I got the gist of umbrellas now I had never been involved with them before. I saw the job they had not to far away and thought 1 day a week on average would keep my hand in and get me out. Do not fancy other jobs I’ve seen like day driver starting at 1am I will wait I think.
Ha haar more of ye old agency skulduggery. Splice them paycheks mi lads, these truckers are mostly dumb chuckers…lool. 
Muckaway:
I’ve just had a letter from HMRC, regarding tax codes; One is for my new employer, the second regards “Outsource Contracting Limited.” These are the umbrella providers for Driver Hire who I worked for briefly last January-February. Basically HMRC say that the umbrella will use “BR” as their basis for taxing, which I’m concerned about as I don’t work for them anymore and have no intention to again. Does this mean I’m paying tax on a job/wage that doesn’t exist or is it IF I earn any money through them?
You’d only be taxed on the BR code if you went back and worked through the umbrella@ Driver Hire.
Ring HMRC and tell them you won’t be doing any work for Driver Hire and to take them off your “Employer list” so to speak.
This is why anybody who is on PAYE always sees that they are taxed more when working for a 2nd/3rd employer, your tax code and “personnel allowance” can only be legally used by your main employer not the other secondary ones, its absolutely nothing to do with “earning more money” unless it puts you into the 40% tax bracket 
If you go ltd and are then full selfemployed then are you absolutly sure you’ll pay NI contributions. Forget anything you know about paye if you go down this route and make sure you get a good accountant