Thank you for your replies chaps.
So I have now learnt about umbrella companies- I have never come across them before. I am slightly confused as to their purpose however. Are they for contractors who fail the self employment/sole trader test, but do not want to cause their end client the hassle of having to formally employee them? So they are employed by the UC instead. So HMRC gets the same tax as if they were an employee, via the umbrella company. Is that it?
And if you are legitimately self employed, then joining an umbrella company is a dumb idea?
Also- nobody has yet responded to the main Q of my original post- can I the gov.uk employment status checker to check BOTH whether a) I could get away with incorporating or b) whether I should even be self employed at this time (i.e., perhaps I should join a UC?). And whatever 'answer' it spits out, I would of course write to HMRC and let them know what I am doing, so I have this up my sleeve in case they decide to query my status in the future.
@50openstrike you did mention that incorporating is probably a bad idea even if I can, but I would like to understand if it is an option for me at all, even if it ends up not being worth it.
So I have now learnt about umbrella companies- I have never come across them before. I am slightly confused as to their purpose however. Are they for contractors who fail the self employment/sole trader test, but do not want to cause their end client the hassle of having to formally employee them? So they are employed by the UC instead. So HMRC gets the same tax as if they were an employee, via the umbrella company. Is that it?
And if you are legitimately self employed, then joining an umbrella company is a dumb idea?
Also- nobody has yet responded to the main Q of my original post- can I the gov.uk employment status checker to check BOTH whether a) I could get away with incorporating or b) whether I should even be self employed at this time (i.e., perhaps I should join a UC?). And whatever 'answer' it spits out, I would of course write to HMRC and let them know what I am doing, so I have this up my sleeve in case they decide to query my status in the future.
@50openstrike you did mention that incorporating is probably a bad idea even if I can, but I would like to understand if it is an option for me at all, even if it ends up not being worth it.
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