Self-employed & Coronavirus

[nmc]

I had a call last night after accountant did some more reading up. They are pretty sure I will be entitled to the scheme which pays up to 80 per cent of salary on the PAYE scheme.

It is a grey area in the scheme but you can still work on your business as a director. Including all the things you will still be doing, chasing and submitting invoices, doing the books, payrolls and chasing down new work on behalf of your business.

Essentially, I would still bring money into the business as normal (working in truth) but that is through my efforts as director, keeping the business going, so the money I could get as a perceived furloughed employee would be applicable.

Good luck - I hope you get the help you are entitled to.

 

[nmc]

Some firms show their true colours in a crisis. Our firm is being absolute a**eholes. I work for a small firm on the railway, we are classed as key workers. The excuse is we need to maintain the railway to keep things moving etc.. (yet some of the jobs we are doing can easily be postponed, non critical works ). Anyway suddenly they say they will only pay on production hours only. So we normally get our 40 hours regardless but now if they have only a shift for us for one week we get paid 10 hours only for that week. They refuse to put people on furloughed. Scandalous, they will probably claim for us and not pass on the money.

Are you a direct employee? Are you on a permanent contract - say 40 hours? Check your contract - very few contracts have a lay-off clause so your employer may not be able to simply slash your hours and earnings. In simple terms you’d probably be better off “laid off” in these circumstances and getting 80 per cent of your normal pay up-to £2,500 than being pissed around like that. This crisis is really showing us the good, the bad and the fucking ugly in terms of employers. Unfortunately for every good one there seems to be three bad and a couple of uglies.

 

[staffs_blue]

My wife is a self employed mobile hairdresser. She only works about 30 hours a week and works around the kids schooling.

She has had to stop working as all hairdressers have but also she is in the at risk category if she catches COVID-19

She rarely makes more than £200pw.

Will she be entitled to anything?

 

[OB1]

I still pay a stamp via my monthly PAYE to ensure I get a state pension entitlement.

It's a complete red herring by some people to suggest a proportion of salary being paid in dividends is some sort of dodge.

I pay self-assessment, corporation tax, dividends tax, PAYE.

There's less advantage than there used to be but you still save on NIC (EE & ER). Also, if you have husband and wife as shareholders, you can potentially reduce exposure to higher rate tax.

 

[Rammy Blue]

My wife is a self employed mobile hairdresser. She only works about 30 hours a week and works around the kids schooling.

She has had to stop working as all hairdressers have but also she is in the at risk category if she catches COVID-19

She rarely makes more than £200pw.

Will she be entitled to anything?

Yes, she will get the 80% of her average pay over last 3 years, relating to her self assessment filings.

 

[staffs_blue]

Yes, she will get the 80% of her average pay over last 3 years, relating to her self assessment filings.

That's reassuring to hear. I read somewhere that people who earn under the £12k tax threshold would basically get nothing!

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

There's less advantage than there used to be but you still save on NIC (EE & ER). Also, if you have husband and wife as shareholders, you can potentially reduce exposure to higher rate tax.

Thanks mate, but my wife in a teacher and draws her own salary from that, she's not on my books for anything more than a shareholder.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Here is a hypothetical....what if you ignored the plea from the government and did not take up their 80 per cent furloughed employee status?

In respect of a small Ltd company sacking their employee (spouse) and having to hand her a severance package as a result.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

And what if said Ltd company didn't have the cash at bank to pay off the employee/shareholder, but I could loan that cash to my company?

Could I loan it £20k, the business then hands it to my wife as a pay-off, and the business owes me £20k which is could never hope to pay back - can I offset the debt against tax?

 

[flook]

I still pay a stamp via my monthly PAYE to ensure I get a state pension entitlement.

It's a complete red herring by some people to suggest a proportion of salary being paid in dividends is some sort of dodge.

I pay self-assessment, corporation tax, dividends tax, PAYE.

Really pisses me off this, even the missus thinks it's a fiddle