Paye & Consulting

Hi All,
I'm new here so I welcome any advise on this, I've read other posting however they don't appear to be clear.
So my currently status is I'm a PAYE employee. I'd like to start consulting however I'm not sure what is the best way to go with billing. What ever my options I can't put my potential entitlements (Dole etc) at risk in case I lost my job. So I'm thinking of operating as a sole trader however if possible I'd like to work as a ltd, However I'm concerned that if I register a company this will mess up my entitlements. So can anyone shed any light on these options.
Can anyone also please advise on the tax liabilities and what I should be filing as a sole trader. I believe the tax filing for a LTD is well documented and established .
I'd like to thank all for any input. I would also be grateful if you would point me at documents which may help inform me of the options.
Thanks
Mark

Hi Mark - the following links may be of some use to you. The option of being an employee of an umbrella company (at least initially) may be worth researching.


http://www.iconaccounting.ie/umbrella-company-paye-member/
http://www.osk.ie/services/osk-contracting/the-service-at-osk/umbrella-company.php
http://www.prima.ie/contractor-umbrella-company/

Hi Mark,

If I was you I would set up a limited company, it will cost you about £20 if you do it yourself online, or an accountant will charge you around £150.

After that just open a bank account for the company and start sending those invoices and fill up that account. This will not affect your dole money(tax credits im assuming) as those are currently based purely on your income, so if you don't take a wage from your company its all good.

Once you company account is full or cash, then you take dividends or a wage and your tax credits at this stage will be affected.

If you go down the Umbrella route however they will deal with you through PAYE so it will affect your benefits, give this company a call to double check: [broken link removed]

Hi Franktouch,
Thanks for the info however my concern with setting up a private limited company is that it can change my PRSI status to a director in which case i'm concern that If I was made redundant by my current employer I wouldn't have any entitlement at all which would be a very big problem. This is what i'm trying to clarify.

1dave123 thanks for the links I'll check them out.
Kind Regards
Mark

franktouch said:

Hi Mark,

If I was you I would set up a limited company, it will cost you about £20 if you do it yourself online, or an accountant will charge you around £150.

After that just open a bank account for the company and start sending those invoices and fill up that account. This will not affect your dole money(tax credits im assuming) as those are currently based purely on your income, so if you don't take a wage from your company its all good.

Once you company account is full or cash, then you take dividends or a wage and your tax credits at this stage will be affected.

If you go down the Umbrella route however they will deal with you through PAYE so it will affect your benefits, give this company a call to double check: [broken link removed]

Click to expand...

franktouch said:

Hi Mark,

If I was you I would set up a limited company, it will cost you about £20 if you do it yourself online, or an accountant will charge you around £150.

After that just open a bank account for the company and start sending those invoices and fill up that account. This will not affect your dole money(tax credits im assuming) as those are currently based purely on your income, so if you don't take a wage from your company its all good.

Once you company account is full or cash, then you take dividends or a wage and your tax credits at this stage will be affected.

If you go down the Umbrella route however they will deal with you through PAYE so it will affect your benefits, give this company a call to double check: [broken link removed]

Click to expand...

Hi Franktouch,

this is an Irish site and it seems you are referring to the situation in the UK.

Hi Mark,

I don't think any of what Franktouch is talking about is relevant to your situation.

If you are made redundant in your main job then even if you have some income from a side-line you may still qualify for means-tested benefits but may lose out on the non-means-tested JSB payments.