Re: OT: Becoming an IT Contractor

["Andrew Brockhurst" <andy@xxxxxxx>]

Until last year, I had been contracting for 8 years odd. It is almost a
year to the day that I took a permie position (1st time since Uni).

You need a good accountant that you can trust. Luckily my dad is a
chartered accountant and the senior partner in a large national firm of
accountants.

You will probably need to setup a limited company, as most agencies will
not touch you with a barge pole until you do. Bewary of IR35 (accountant
should help) and read your contracts with great care to make sure that
you satisfy the IR's criteria for exemption from IR35, quite a few of my
friends came a cropper to this and ended up with huge bills.

Don't take the p*ss with dividends or the IR will investigate and they
look very carefully. (now that we use self assessment they've got nothing
better to do).

It's almost definately worth getting VAT registered 'cos then you can
claim back VAT on petrol, vehicle repairs, PC's and components :-) (try
and keep individual items below 1000UKP 'cos then it doesn't go on the
company asset list i.e. no record that is was an ePod ;-> )

There are companies that will effectively subcontract you rather that
setup your own limited company, but the take a cut, of course, and it
doesn't give you the flexability of the previous point!

Andy


-----Original Message-----
From: "Paul Smith" <wheelbarrowhandle@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 16:42:08 +0100
Subject: [ukha_d] OT: Becoming an IT Contractor

> People,
>
>             I believe that several of you are contractors and I am
> looking to become one. I have over ten years in IT and wonder what's
> the
> way to go about it.
>
> Any Pointers would be great.
>
>
> Paul
>
>