Hiring a Sub-Contractor

[Cipher]

Hello,

I am an IT Contractor working in the North-West. Thanks to Good Lord's grace work has been going well and I have taken up more work and I am now planning to hire another person to help me out with some of the work that I have taken on. I intend to hire someone on a six month contract. I have an old University friend who has been looking for some additional work on top of his existing full time job. I know he has the skills and the capabilities to complete the tasks I need him to.

At this point I should probably mention that we are both immigrants on Tier 1 General Visas. I am originally from Dubai while he is from India.

The problem is, he is due for a renewal of his Visa and as per the new rules and the change in immigration policy, he is expected to show earnings of 35,000 GBP per annum to qualify for a renewal. He currently makes 23,000 from his full time position as a web developer. He needs to get his renewal done in September. I was originally willing to pay 10,000 GBP over 6 months to get this current project completed. But my friend will need 12,000 GBP to qualify for the Visa extension, and I am happy to hire him and pay him the amount he has asked for.

But I am not sure whether I should hire him as a contractor or as an employee. I don't want him to get into any trouble with the UK Border Agency during his renewal but I don't want to get in any trouble with HMRC or the UKBA over this either.

Would me hiring him cause problems for me later on? If I do hire his services, should I hire him as an employee or as a sub contractor?


I would be most grateful for any advice


Thank You

Alex

[rd409]

You(your friend) need an immigration lawyer. Not everyone on this board likes Immigrants, so be prepared for the type of answers you get.

The situation is complicated here. Do you work as a sole trader, or through an umbrella, or with a limited company? With limited knowledge I have, I can suggest, that you can pay whatever you want to pay him. He will have to declare that amount on his SA and pay tax on that. If you can show that he did the work, I don’t see a reason why either of HMRC or UKBA bothers you.

Still the best piece of advice anyone can give you here, is get a specialist Lawyer.

[TykeMerc]

Still the best piece of advice anyone can give you here, is get a specialist Lawyer.

Indeed, your question revolves around circumstances that very few (if any) of the CUK posters will have any experience of. Quite a few could help if you were a Brit working outside the UK.

You need specialist or at least experienced advice.