It can often be confusing trying to work out which jobs are likely to be paid as self-employed, and which as PAYE.
Generally speaking it’s roles where people have their own tools, or where HMRC thinks you have to show “rare skill and judgement”, a jargon phrase that always brings a wry smile.
A good starting point for clarification is the list of job roles agreed between HMRC and the production industry, including unions like BECTU.
This is sometimes called the ‘agreed list’ or ‘appendix 1’.
READ MORE > Posted on 01 August 2023
When I ask people on my courses what they think ‘freelance’ means there’s often some wag who shouts ‘unemployed’.
It’s usually someone who’s just left employment and is getting their head around the freelance lifestyle. It’s also meant as a joke, but with a frisson of ‘it’s funny because it’s true’.
The word ‘unemployed’ implies a period between employed jobs, when no income is coming in and you have nothing to do. This makes sense if you see work as being controlled by an employer.
READ MORE > Posted on 01 August 2023
Did you know that 17th May is National Numeracy Day?
Me neither, but it gives me the chance to point out that there are plenty of resources out there to help people who might be a little scared of numbers.
One charity doing good in this area is National Numeracy, a driving force behind National Numeracy Day. They exist to promote maths and numeracy education “for the public benefit”, which is unarguably splendid.
READ MORE > Posted on 11 May 2023
I suspect everyone poo-poos new tech as a threat to their job until they can see that it really is a moving a big tank onto their lawn.
I had a sudden ‘get off my land’ moment just a few days ago.
READ MORE > Posted on 11 May 2023
Income tax years in the UK run (bizarrely) from 6th April to 5th April. And the rules change every year. Sometimes it’s a tweak and sometimes, following a general election, it can be a radical new direction.
There can also be ‘interesting’ new directions when the Prime Minister is Liz Truss. That’s another story, so I’ll leave it between you and your mortgage lender.
READ MORE > Posted on 05 April 2023
I get a lot of questions from people on my Finance of Freelancers courses about what happens to tax if you have a mix of PAYE income and sole trader income.
PAYE income and sole trader profits are both taxed using the income tax system, which is pretty straight forward.
But PAYE income is usually taxed by the time you get it, and sole trader income never is.
READ MORE > Posted on 05 April 2023
If you’re a freelancer it’s good to think like a business, and part of that is keeping an eye on how tax works. You can sometimes save a bit of money just by tweaking your behaviour across different tax years.
Yesterday (17 November 2022) Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled the latest plans to deal with the UK’s financial woes.
READ MORE > Posted on 18 November 2022
What to do when you feel your social network no longer cuts the mustard?
This is the question loads of people have asked themselves since Elon Musk took over Twitter.
For many it seems the answer is Mastodon.
I started my training business before social media existed, and usually claim that I only use them for work, not personal life.
READ MORE > Posted on 07 November 2022
I’m often asked about the idea that sole traders have to pay tax ‘in advance’.
That’s not quite true, but the ‘payment on account’ system means you might have to pay tax in advance of knowing precisely what the final bill for the year will be.
READ MORE > Posted on 22 July 2022
Every year at this time I outline some tweaks and changes to the tax system, so that you can plan your finances better.
This year it’s more complicated, partly because of the government’s reaction to the pandemic and partly because of some decisions made by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to change the balance of who gets taxed and how.
READ MORE > Posted on 01 April 2022
