Accountants for contractors

For a contractor the single biggest tax question is whether the engagement falls inside or outside IR35. Outside it, you can run the company normally and pay yourself a mix of salary and dividends. Inside it, the fee is treated as employment income and a deemed payment is calculated, which cuts take-home pay sharply.

We read the contract before you sign, look at how the work is actually done and keep the evidence on file, because HMRC looks at the working practices as well as the paperwork.

• Contract review before you sign
• Working practices documented
• Status determination challenged where it looks wrong

Income arrives in blocks and stops between engagements, so a steady monthly salary with dividends in good months works better than large irregular withdrawals. We set the salary at the level that suits your situation and take dividends only from profits that exist.

In a gap, the company keeps filing and paying its fixed costs, and we tell you how much runway the company has.

• Steady salary, flexible dividends
• Runway between contracts
• No illegal dividends

Contractors can claim a wide range of legitimate costs, such as insurance, equipment, software, training, accountancy and approved mileage. Travel is the area most often challenged, because only travel to a temporary workplace is allowable, and a site attended for more than 24 months generally becomes a permanent one.

We apply the tests to each claim and keep the supporting records.

• Temporary workplace tests applied
• Approved mileage rates
• Evidence kept for six years