tendering for a contract
- Thread starter jog
- Start date
- Status
plasterjfe
Private Member
Its a hassle and a time consumer that you don't see any return for. I will be honest I have been playing with the idea of closing the Ltd co. To be a sole trader again
You will have to register as a contractor with the Cis so you can pay subbies/employees. The contractors online account allows you to do all the payments and tax forms.
You must do them for subbies Cis every month showing all tax deductions or you will be fined 100 quid every time you are late.
If you suffer Cis deductions yourself then you will need to offset this against what you deduct from subbies otherwise you could end up with a negative cash flow. Also getting money back off the hmrc is getting increasingly difficult....they owe me 6k down from 13k going back to 2010.
You will also need to set up RTI online this means every time you pay yourself or an employee or you receive money from sales you must enter the amounts. This info shows your deductions so you can offset. Again if you don't keep up to date you will be fined 100 penalty.
My advice is stay off the vat unless you hit the threshold only then should you register. Its another quarterly form and yes you guessed it....you will be fined 100 penalty if its late.
Good luck with it all. Kiss goodbye to your spare time unless you wanna pay a hefty bookeeper fee to do it all for you
You will have to register as a contractor with the Cis so you can pay subbies/employees. The contractors online account allows you to do all the payments and tax forms.
You must do them for subbies Cis every month showing all tax deductions or you will be fined 100 quid every time you are late.
If you suffer Cis deductions yourself then you will need to offset this against what you deduct from subbies otherwise you could end up with a negative cash flow. Also getting money back off the hmrc is getting increasingly difficult....they owe me 6k down from 13k going back to 2010.
You will also need to set up RTI online this means every time you pay yourself or an employee or you receive money from sales you must enter the amounts. This info shows your deductions so you can offset. Again if you don't keep up to date you will be fined 100 penalty.
My advice is stay off the vat unless you hit the threshold only then should you register. Its another quarterly form and yes you guessed it....you will be fined 100 penalty if its late.
Good luck with it all. Kiss goodbye to your spare time unless you wanna pay a hefty bookeeper fee to do it all for you
user__removed
Private Member
Also if you do go VAT registered and you then opt out if you can, you will have to repay any VAT reclaimed on assets in the last 7 years I believe .
the benefit of being a ltd is that if it goes belly up you loose your business if your a sole trader in your name you loose your business , your house anything that's not nailed down.
It depends on your potential punters I guess If your taking on work for developers etc you want to be vat to claim it all back if your domestic you don't want to be involved, claiming vat back on fuel is a godsend, I don't know how lads make a do paying for fuel and the vat as well, I've got 4 vehicles, two vans my navara jeep and my range rover all the fuel goes through the business I recon I do over a 100,000 mile a year across all 4 if I wasn't claiming vat back it would be a fortune.
You can be late with the vat return once but I it's late again in 24 month it's 10% of the return .
I get a book keeper to do all mine, piece of mind and only paying out a small amount for it, I do nothing but write cheques.
johniosaif
Private Member
It's best to be organised,a decent accountant doesnt cost the earth, I am a sole trader,it suits me,low risk work, at most i would lose a couple of weeks money,but unlikely as I work for people I know for a long time, ltd suits people busier than I am ,
In an entirely different business I was a contractor with North Tyneside Council, seems different departments or councils do better than others. I was waiting up to 6 months and on one occasion even longer to get paid and we are talking up to £29000 at one point I was owed. Nearly collapsed the business that did and it certainly could not keep going like that.
For plastering it isn't too bad I assume but if they start piling a lot of work on and the balance sheet keeps mounting I'd be wary.
For plastering it isn't too bad I assume but if they start piling a lot of work on and the balance sheet keeps mounting I'd be wary.
plasterjfe
Private Member
The hmrc nearly bust me in the recession pal. Its a stupid system the Cis. No other business has to jump through so many hoops
Probably better building up your order book as your already doing, as a sole trader initially
& see how the money flows in & out.
If your turnover forces you to look at vat, then you could look into the flat rate scheme which is somethin like 9.5% for general construction. That could still keep you competitive.
You still have to pay this even on zero rated work & exempt. But the admin is allegedly far less hassle as plasterjfe has described perfectly.
You can't claim standard rates on purchases, except I think occasionally on 2k & above items, such as a van? Which might be your biggest purchase. As mentioned,register as a c is contractor, have a "good look"at the Labour / materials balance on your invoices when your subbie to the council or whatever, get the utr's of your guys verified for 20% with cis online, then you can proceed with the business of being a "b4stard".
Good luck
& see how the money flows in & out.
If your turnover forces you to look at vat, then you could look into the flat rate scheme which is somethin like 9.5% for general construction. That could still keep you competitive.
You still have to pay this even on zero rated work & exempt. But the admin is allegedly far less hassle as plasterjfe has described perfectly.
You can't claim standard rates on purchases, except I think occasionally on 2k & above items, such as a van? Which might be your biggest purchase. As mentioned,register as a c is contractor, have a "good look"at the Labour / materials balance on your invoices when your subbie to the council or whatever, get the utr's of your guys verified for 20% with cis online, then you can proceed with the business of being a "b4stard".
Good luck
no ive been there subbing there 6 yrs and payments regular luckily enough
stiltwalker
Active Member
plasterjfe is spot on..your most important thing to do first is to get a contractor status ..because you will be surprised at how fast your own income will be down after your 20% has been deducted then you have to deduct another 20% you will need good cashflow as it all adds up and if you are waiting on a good chunk of money to be paid it can make all the difference ..if you dont get the odd fine from cis i would be shocked they will not give you any second chances .. expect to spend alot of time on the phone at first untill you get used to the system ..best of luck :RpS_thumbup:
plasterjfe
Private Member
Oh don't get me started on the phone calls.....fk me
Those menus systems are the longest drawn out money maker going. I once spent 19 mins on the menus before I got to speak to a person.....all at premium rate
*****.
stiltwalker
Active Member
i was warned 3 times not to keep swearing lol i could'nt help myself :RpS_cursing: as they guessed what i should pay to say i was angry was only the tip of the iceberg .. i would like to see the figures on how much they made from fines and premium rate numbers last year i bet it was a colossal amount of money
plasterjfe
Private Member
It was published somewhere in a complaint. Its millions and millions mate
BetterTAX
Member
Hi guys,
Sorry for not coming along sooner - I didn't get a notification of a mention (thanks for it though @johniosaif )
You definitely need to get organised and sorted. You could opt for the flat rate VAT scheme (as has been mentioned). Turnover is not a consideration and it can save you some money. Whether you go Ltd or stay as a sole trader is probably a personal choice and you should get some specific advice.
We can help you with the CIS queries but setting it up for payments is something we don't do at this point. There are companies out there that can do this but I'm sure there is also software to automate it, so long as you are disciplined to do it on time. If you need any general advice regarding being gross (as it were), please give the office a quick call.
Make sure you get advice from an accountant that absolutely understands VAT and the flat rate scheme too (a mate of mine just got stung for £6k because his accountant wasn't doing it right or it got lost in translation! wasn't us, btw!!).
Good luck!
Sorry for not coming along sooner - I didn't get a notification of a mention (thanks for it though @johniosaif )
You definitely need to get organised and sorted. You could opt for the flat rate VAT scheme (as has been mentioned). Turnover is not a consideration and it can save you some money. Whether you go Ltd or stay as a sole trader is probably a personal choice and you should get some specific advice.
We can help you with the CIS queries but setting it up for payments is something we don't do at this point. There are companies out there that can do this but I'm sure there is also software to automate it, so long as you are disciplined to do it on time. If you need any general advice regarding being gross (as it were), please give the office a quick call.
Make sure you get advice from an accountant that absolutely understands VAT and the flat rate scheme too (a mate of mine just got stung for £6k because his accountant wasn't doing it right or it got lost in translation! wasn't us, btw!!).
Good luck!
BetterTAX
Member
Yes it was published recently, which is why they do free calls now because it was disgusting what they made on people on hold!
- Status