Friend has offered to pay me to help with his business - Self employed set up

[SideWinder]

Coming out with some classic threads at the moment.

Okay so a good fried of mine requires support on a start up (won't go into too much detail however the present climate suits this, the connections are there plus he is vastly experieced within this business area) and has asked for a pair of hands to support him as he is in the process of wrapping up his previous job.

He has offered to pay me by the hour as an extra pair of hands to help with this but i am pretty sure he won't be looking to set me up as an employee as he knows my main interests are elsewhere.

- So what is the 'easiest' way to do this legally so i pay tax?

- Can i do it all online/under 5mins for instance or is it more complex?

- I am not looking to set up my own business so i think self employed is the way forward rather than Ltd?

Thank you!

 

[doopydug]

Self employed IS your own business

 

[flea.rider]

??? just take cash in the hand ? unless you want to paye and nat ins..

 

[SideWinder]

Self employed IS your own business

Can tell i know very little here so could always add just a bit more info?

@flea.rider - To be honest i was pondering that route but i am on benefits at the moment soooooooooo just being cautious and all that.

 

[flea.rider]

Can tell i know very little here so could always add just a bit more info?

@flea.rider - To be honest i was pondering that route but i am on benefits at the moment soooooooooo just being cautious and all that.

this really depends on how long he wants you to work for him and the money involved ..40hrs a week for 6-12 months .. then tell them ..
10 hrs a week for 4-6 weeks .. just beer money
as long as no money is seen changing hands and you m8 says your not getting paid it's just volunteer work .. well ......

 

[SideWinder]

@flea.rider Also sorry i didn't mean to come across all meh. Hope it wasn't taken that way.

I predict it'll be 2-3 months at 25 hours a week on average. Moneywise...well it won't be cash as he is remote.

 

[PC777]

If it's full time work then you need to let the benefits system know you've started full time, cheating it as this time isn't morally sound or that smart as they'll likely clamp down on people scamming during coronavirus.

Just think of all the self employed who fiddled their earnings and can't claim anywhere close to their actual wage during the coronavirus self employed grant, because they lied. Plenty of ways it can come back to bite you in the arse if you're not honest.

You don't need to set up a Ltd company, you can work as a full time self employed independent contractor as I have for the past 6 years.

25 hours a week will likely be more than the total you're getting in benefits it's also likely considered full time as it's over 16 hours per week so you'll likely need to totally sign off to do this.

If you do it full time you can set your own tax year from when you started and initially pay once per year but when you've been established a while they like you to pay tax every 6 months. If you're only working 3 months then it likely will be under the £11,000 approx tax free earnings, I don't think you'll owe any tax on it, though I could be wrong.

Best bet is contact benefits and also maybe contact self assessment to see where you would stand, likely to be long phone queue for that though.

 

[SideWinder]

@PC777 Mm that is kinda my angle but i just want to know for sure this start up will even be around in say, 3 months. It has been 1 week so far so i am thinking ahead!

This week totalled 14 hours and to be honest, he is a mate and i am doing not much so i am happy to help for free at this stage. So will see if it even ramps up also.

Will contact them when things start to progress then.

So there isn't like, a website i use to fill in my info?

 

[PC777]

You can pay all your taxes and find almost anything out at the self assessment govt site.

https://www.gov.uk/log-in-file-self-assessment-tax-return/register-if-youre-self-employed

As for registering a business you can do it at that link, but as I had other questions I basically just phoned and told them, they set up a few details like asking a company name (you can use your own name to make it easy) they're actually really helpful and I've sometimes even phoned to ask about allowed expenses.

Doing your own taxes is easy just keeping records with a spreadsheet and simply filling in the self assessment site details and paying online once they've confirmed your figures.

 

[SideWinder]

Okay good to know thank you.