We are here to help you

As part of our all-inclusive service we provide you with unlimited telephone and email support during the year.

We have also produced this FAQs guide covering some of the most common questions we are asked.

IR35 (also known as intermediaries legislation) was brought in by the Government in 2000 to tackle the growing use of Limited Companies as disguised employment.  An example may be a permanent employee leaving work on a Friday and returning on a Monday morning at the same desk, same job but working through a Limited Company to pay less tax.

Contractors should be aware of IR35 and how it may affect them if they consider their contract to have likenesses to permanent employment e.g. lack of responsibility, of control, employee benefits, etc.

Unfortunately there is no black and white test of whether your contract falls under IR35 or not, instead, you can apply tests of the three “principles of employment”.  These are: 

Control

How much control do you have over what, when, how and where the services are performed?

Substitution

Is the work personal to you as the worker or could your Limited Company send someone else to work on this project?

Mutuality of obligation

Is the client obliged to offer you work and are you as the worker obliged to accept it?

There are also other factors that should be taken into account when reviewing IR35 status, including:

  • Is the contract for a specific project?
  • Is there financial risk in the contract?
  • Do you provide your own equipment
  • Are you supposed to fit in to the client organisation as an employee? e.g. staff parties, use of staff canteen, staff training etc.

Unless the vehicle is an electric car, then there are fairly hefty benefit in kind tax implications which increase based on the emissions. In some cases, a better option is generally to claim a mileage allowance from the company for using your personal car for business travel.  This is currently at a rate of 45 pence per mile up to 10,000 miles per year (6 April to 5 April) and 25 pence per mile thereafter.  You can also claim for cycling to work or using a motorcycle.

Yes, you do need to set up a separate business bank account however we can take care of this for you.  We can arrange for a bank account to be set up with Metro Bank (part of Prudential).  A major benefit of setting up an account with Metro Bank is we have negotiated free business banking for our clients and we also have read only access to your account so you do not need to send us bank statements each month.

We will discuss this with you at your initial meeting and have also produced a handy guide to typical contractor expenses which will be sent through to you. Click here to read.

In some situations it can be very beneficial to bring a spouse into the business as a shareholder, employee or both.  If your spouse has an income of less than £40,000 per year then contact us to discuss how this can work in your business.

Professional Indemnity, Employers Liability and Public Liability Insurances are normally a good idea and for most contractors and also contractual requirement imposed by their agency or client.

We provide £13m of cover as part of packages 2 and 3.  For more details please see here.

We do not offer investment advice however we have teamed up with contractor specialist advisors to provide advice on:

  • Pensions
  • Mortgages
  • Investments
  • Life assurance and critical illness cover
  • Income protection
  • Estate planning and wills

Contact us on 01962 454144 to discuss further or enquiries@sg-accounting.co.uk

We are a firm of accountants specialising in contractors and freelancers and our service includes:

  • Unlimited telephone and email support
  • Company incorporation
  • Accounts preparation and submission to HMRC and Companies House
  • Corporation Tax Return preparation and submission
  • Payroll
  • Bookkeeping services
  • VAT returns
  • Annual Return
  • IR35 Reviews and advice
  • Management of all HMRC correspondence
  • Company Secretarial services
  • Registered office address
  • Self Assessment Tax Returns
  • Income and mortgage references

In addition, either in house or through our trusted directors we offer:

  • Management Accounts (to show you how the business is doing, what are the current tax liabilities during the year and future tax estimates)
  • Tax Investigation Cover (to cover the cost of accountancy fees in the event of an HMRC enquiry)
  • Financial and Investment advice (mortgages, insurance, investments and pensions)
  • Inheritance Tax planning
  • Professional Indemnity insurance
  • Business advice and consultancy
  • Accounting system set up
  • Online bookkeeping systems
  • Non-contractor accounts

We are very proud that the majority of our new clients come from existing and past client referrals based on the great service provided.  If you know a contractor that would benefit from our service then please pass on our details.

We’re accredited and trusted

XERO Certified Advisors
FreeAgent Expert
FCSA Limited Company Accredited Member
AAT Accredited
ACCA Approved Employer
Get in Touch

We’d love to chat about your accounting needs. Call us now, drop us an email or fill in the form and we’ll get back to you.

01962 867550

New enquiries:
newbusiness@sg-accounting.co.uk

Existing clients:
enquiries@sg-accounting.co.uk

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.