If you’re employed on a contract basis or pay self employed tax, you might find that you pay a good deal more self employed tax than you absolutely have to . By creating an umbrella company you will be able simplify the system through which you are reimbursed for your time , and reclaim lots of everyday costs against tax .
To posit an example, if you were a consultant hired by an advertising company on a self employed basis, you could choose to establish an umbrella company which would be your employer on a full time basis, and be remunerated for your work by the firm to which you are contracted. The umbrella company could then pay you as an employee rather than as a contractor . Through the umbrella company you could also, and very easily, write down legitimate operating costs as expenses, which the umbrella company would be able to treat as operating costs, deducting them from the moneys received from the company to which you’re contracted before you are paid, and crucially, before your tax calculations are made .
The expenses that the umbrella company could deduct from your self employed tax in this fashion might include travel expenses , your broadband at home if you use it for work . You could also choose to have your umbrella company provide you with a company automobile and smartphone, and to these benefits can then be deducted from your taxable income and will consequently reduce your tax burden .
The up sides of creating an umbrella company
This third party is then remunerated by the umbrella company, rather than paying self employed tax. The cash given to this other “employee” is really a part of the income paid to the contractor by the contracting company, but by dividing this income among two directors of the umbrella company you can benefit from the tax-free allowance or “personal allowance” that every UK citizen enjoys, with the first section of their salary (at present the first ?7,475, rising in 2012/13 to ?8,105, and with a further rise announced in the March 2012 budget) going untaxed.