I was doing it. I had a crowd called Fenero handle the payslips for me for a fee of 120 a month, which you can claim half back. Some lads do the tax returns etc themselves but I wouldn’t have the head for it.
The good thing is expensing laptops, phone expenses, hardware and, if you’re creative enough, “work” trips abroad.
I did it for a few years in my 30s, great way to gather a few pound. I had a ltd company at the time so got my own accountant to do the dirty stuff but like @StoneCold said there are plenty 3rd parties who would sort you for a small monthly fee.
What about time for your TFKing and online gambling?
Seriously though, I know we’re in the same game from bits and pieces you’ve posted about work. I know those contracts sound good, and they are but there’s a few expenses you have to factor in.
Insurance cost.
Working away from home costs. Hotels?
Software and hardware costs.
Travel costs.
Health insurance.
Where is the next job coming from?
Accountants?
Website?
The biggest problem I had was that I got sucked in. The big decision will be sole trader or a LTD company. You work away and keep on top of your VAT but have a big unquantified tax bill at the end of the year. No bother, the money is there. But then after a few years you want to stop. You go back to PAYE but have a huge tax bill waiting for you. So you can’t stop. Circumstances change, family, the projects get smaller, you’re sucked in. You can’t stop because of that tax bill.
That’s what happened me anyway.
It certainly is a young man’s game.
Why a huge tax bill when you go back paye?
You had the wrong accountant
You’d be on 90 days minimum for starters.
Incorrect on your guess. If it is what i think it is.
Sounds like the start of an episode of Banged Up Abroad.
What if you’re wong on your guess of what he thinks it is?
Well, you may or may not have one.
Your deadline for income tax for 2021 is 1st November 2022. You could of course have coughed up some preliminary tax (if you had it spare) in 2021 or again you could have sorted it out in January, again if you had it. However most lads might have their money tied up in parts/goods or waiting for a big cheque. And yea, the accountant can drag his heels too. So most contractors scraping by end up using their earnings for 2022 to pay their 2021 tax bill.
Then you go back to PAYE and have a 30K tax bill waiting for you in November.
I’m prepared to take that chance
His hands don’t get too dirty, I’ll guarantee you that.
It certainly can be.
I worked for a big company years ago and the only place we could get the expertise was from English contractors. They’d come over full of shit and get landed right into the shit over here. The engineering managed would be riding them this side for every minute he could get. The wives would be badgering them on the phone from the other side with family catastrophes. One lad used switch to German on the phone mid sentence when it got hot with the wife. Thinking the thick Micks couldn’t understand him.
I had a pal that worked through the figures, and reckoned after factoring in holidays, sick pay, pension, costs etc etc he needed to be earning nearly double to break even, but that may not be the driving issue.
FWIW @Copper_pipe , at your age, I’d be looking pretty much entirely at career advancement rather than bottom line, so don’t forget to look at potential further training and experience that an employer may encourage or at least tolerate, and foot the bill for.
I am both a PAYE worker and a sole trader. I do my income tax returns myself. Used to have an accountant do it but it wasn’t needed after a while as I wasn’t doing much side business. My advice to anyone doing the two is to try and settle up your tax bill early in the year. I usually do my returns in January.
I did before. There is a few companies that will set up umbrella companies, or make you the director of one or they take the contract and you are paye to them. The PO is paid to them and they do all the accounting and lodge the money in your bank account with the tax man sorted. I used icon accounting. They had a handy portal to log hours worked and receipts.
You could do it all yourself if you want. But i think the service cost around €1300 a year but is tax deducted.
This right here. When i started out it was as a sole trader. Every payment i got i put 30% of it into a separate account so at years end i wasnt searching for money in the year ahead to pay for tax for the year behind, it just starts a viscous cycle of catching up on funds which wont end well if things go wrong. Things have moved on since then, but its one thing I’d try not let happen that im left searching for money to pay tax much later than when i received the money for it. Better get it paid early and save hassle.
The Mrs takes the same approach. The 30% is put away into a separate account every week and paid up in January. It helps that she gets cash immediately for her services and not a while after a project has been completed
You must be a busy man. Fair play.