Employed or Self Employed?

Employed or Self Employed – Are You in Employment Or Self Employment?

Employed or self employed you will still be required to meet your financial responsibilities and everyone has a different situation.

How can one determine if you are self-employed or an employee for UK tax purposes?

There is no one definition of what employment or self-employment is and it’s based on previous judgments which are commonly referred to as ‘case law.’  Additionally, there are millions of people who are both employed and working as self employed at the same time.

So it can get confusing and crossover…

Yet, generally speaking self employed is when you are working to generate your own income with your own business venture. Employment is when you are on the payroll for another company.

There are some fundamental points to take into consideration in determining the status of an individual for Income Tax purposes in the UK.

Self-employed business traders have various key distinguishing pointers, and that self-employed person can:

• Manage and run their own company taking all the essential key decisions.
• Require complete financial responsibility for the success or failure of their business.
• Decide how, where and when they carry out their work.
• Hire other people to perform the work that’s required the cost of which is borne by them.
• Supply the plant, equipment, and motor vehicles that are used to carry out the work.
• They’re free to take holidays and time off when they need to.

Usually, they also have more than one client or customer at the same time.

This isn’t always the case as there are some trades such as motorcycle courier that are treated as self-employed but might only be providing services for a single courier service on a subcontract basis.

I will explain this in more detail later in this article.

Whereas, people that are employees will usually:

• Work for one employer at a time, and they (the employer) are in control of the work that is done by the employee. They could, however, have two employments maybe a day job and a weekend job.
• Are led by their employer about the way to carry out their duties and as to when and where they perform your work.
• Will bе rеquіrеd tо ореrаtе а рrеsеt аmоunt оf hоurs every week.
• Can qualify for paid holidays but may only take these holidays in keeping with their terms of employment as regards their length and time.
• Will benefit from being rewarded at the same fixed amount based on the hours that are worked, and get paid for working overtime.

Casual work or function of a part-time nature can still be classed as either employed or self-employed depending on the facts.

The fact that it is casual or part-time doesn’t have anything to do with their employment status.

For example, self-employed motor bicycle couriers or Uber Drivers may be providing services for a single courier company they are usually treated as self-employed because of how they work.

They’ve no guarantee of work and are dependent on work being allocated to them.

So if there is no source of work they do not get paid and then they need to be classed as self-employed. They provide their own Motor Cycles and pay for their fuel and running costs.

It is, of course, possible to be equally employed and in self-employment simultaneously.

One may be working for an employer during the day and involved in conducting your own self-employed business in the weekends or the evenings.

Each contract of service or employment must be considered independently on its merits.

If you’re not sure, you should take independent advice from a tax expert or someone who participates in this.

My personal experience is that if you call the HMRC helplines, they don’t have a lot of actual knowledge or tax background. They are more like customer service agents. So it is a smart decision to speak to a professional.

Whether one is a worker or self-employed depends upon the facts of the actual working arrangements and the terms and conditions contained in the contract since these factors all, need to be considered at the same time.

If you’re self-employed then, of course, you’ll be responsible for your own tax payments and National Insurance contributions.

You will need to advise HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) by registering together within three months of commencing your self employment.

It is possible to download a registration form from the HMRC website, or you can enrol by making a call to the Newly Self-employed Helpline on 0845 915 4515 which іs ореn 8.00 аm tо 8.00 рm Моndау tо Frіdау аnd 8.00 аm tо 5.00 рm Ѕаturdау and Sunday.

You will also need to file a self assessment tax return with at the required time limits and make payments as required for both National Insurance and Income tax.

If you’re employed, then the burden for actually deducting and paying your tax and National Insurance contributions will fall on your employer.

This wіll bе dеаlt wіth bу undеr thе РАYЕ (Рау Аs Yоu Еаrn) system. With this system, you need to be certain that you have been given the correct code number and aren’t on an emergency or week one basis.

If you are, then quite often, you are taxed either on a week one code or on emergency tax which means you will often be overtaxed and generally will be due to a tах rеfund аt thе еnd оf thе tах уеаr.

Conclusion

If you are working in employment, or you are thinking of making the transition to work for yourself always plan ahead and get advice on how to run your own self employed business and get the tax returns sorted because this is one of the biggest problem areas that many people face.

There are many advantages of working for your self and becoming self employed and it is actually a lot easier to get started than many people think.

If you are still unsure about what to do if you are employed or self employed speak with a tax professional to help you.