Freelance Forum UK - View Single Post - What Freelance Contractors Should Know About Umbrella Companies (Feature)

Lance Hooper Bartlett · 14-07-2009, 01:46 PM

First bit - what limited company? You become an employee of the umbrella

True, but it’s a limited company that is separate to either the client or agency. Most umbrella contractors refer to the umbrella as “their own limited company” even though they don’t actually own (shareholder) or control (director) it.

Second bit - expenses = salary? I thought we'd put that hoary old myth to bed ages ago.

Not sure I understand this one. If contractors are able to offset the cost of their T&S expenses then they’re going to take home more than they ordinarily would if they weren’t able to. Are you unhappy with the terminology?

And "compliant" with what, FFS? Please don't say "IR35", because that is utterly irrelevant to Umbrellas.

Umbrellas ARE compliant under IR35. They’re also compliant under the MSC legislation and so on. Again, it’s a terminology thing. Recruiters are always asking whether my structure is compliant and when they do so, they’re usually referring to either IR35 or MSC. You may be surprised to hear that I don’t actually work through an Umbrella but I do genuinely think they provide a good service to contractors that need them, hence the article

Lance

14-07-2009, 01:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
Lance Hooper Bartlett Newbie User type: Contractor Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 9 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	First bit - what limited company? You become an employee of the umbrella True, but it’s a limited company that is separate to either the client or agency. Most umbrella contractors refer to the umbrella as “their own limited company” even though they don’t actually own (shareholder) or control (director) it. Second bit - expenses = salary? I thought we'd put that hoary old myth to bed ages ago. Not sure I understand this one. If contractors are able to offset the cost of their T&S expenses then they’re going to take home more than they ordinarily would if they weren’t able to. Are you unhappy with the terminology? And "compliant" with what, FFS? Please don't say "IR35", because that is utterly irrelevant to Umbrellas. Umbrellas ARE compliant under IR35. They’re also compliant under the MSC legislation and so on. Again, it’s a terminology thing. Recruiters are always asking whether my structure is compliant and when they do so, they’re usually referring to either IR35 or MSC. You may be surprised to hear that I don’t actually work through an Umbrella but I do genuinely think they provide a good service to contractors that need them, hence the article Lance