First time ltd company - advice?

**northernladuk** · 5 October 2009, 14:58

Any other pieces of advice for a first time ltd company director?

I got a belter!! It's called a search button. It's the font of all our wisdom...

**LisaContractorUmbrella** · 5 October 2009, 15:01

Originally posted by mossy View Post

Hi all,

I'm fairly new to contracting but have loved it so far and can see myself doing this for a while (unless market goes pear shaped!!).

I started with umbrella company but am not going down my own ltd route. Have set the wheels in motion and have appointed Clearsky as my accountants. I have told them to go with 60:40 split with my other half (she doesn't work). I was told that I didn't need to appoint her as a secretary so assume that I can just employ her on a minimal wage. Can anyone see any issues with this that I should be aware of?

Any other pieces of advice for a first time ltd company director?

I appreciate I'll need to sort out insurance and the like but would appreciate any pearls of wisdom people can share.

Cheers, Mossy

In order for your wife to receive anything from the company, she has to actually work for you and you would need to prove that the work done justifies the salary she receives. To be honest though this really is the sort of question that you are paying your accountant to answer.

**Maslins** · 5 October 2009, 15:09

As Lisa says, you'll need to be able to justify any wage paid to your wife. In reality this tends to mean you tell HMRC she does your paperwork and occasionally answers the phone.

On the basis you're probably going to pay her a salary of ~£5-6k to be within her personal allowance this should be fine. Just be a bit careful about minimum wage (ie if you say she works 25 hours/week, you could land yourself in it for paying below minimum wage).

Otherwise, all sounds ok. Be aware of any changes to the income shifting rules (ie you diverting funds to your wife). Labour threatened to bring in some ridiculous legislation about this a couple of years ago, and have since gone a little quiet on the matter...however, if it rears its ugly head again, your 60:40 split will be the kind of thing they'd try to stop.

**Alan @ BroomeAffinity** · 6 October 2009, 08:14

Why appoint and pay an expert, then come on and ask the general public for advice?

Did you go to ClearSky on the advice of Parasol by any chance?

**watford** · 6 October 2009, 12:36

I would follow the advice of your accountant ,because that's what you pay for , also as the other posters have pointed out make sure you justify this arrangement by making sure she does admin work etc ?

First time ltd company - advice?