Home Improvement Contractor - Licensed Contractors

What requirements do I need to be hired as an independent contractor for a UK firm (I'm an American citizen)?

The UK company would like to hire me immediately. What is the most efficient way to go about being hired legally (or at least, not illegally) as an independent contractor? Any Web site links would be helpful. Please, no HSMP or "opening up my own business" suggestions, as I don't qualify. The less speculative the answer, the more appreciated (in other words, I'd love to hear from those who have personal knowledge or experience with this). Thank you!

Public Comments

1. Hi The first thing you need to check is whether you are qualified to work here in the UK and whether you need a work permit. If you do not have approval to work in the UK currently, you need to apply for that. If the company is to hire you as an employee they would need to look at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/workpermits/workpermitarrangements/businessandcommercialworkpermits/. If you want to start in self employment you need to look at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/immigrationlaw/immigrationrules/part6/ If you already have leave to work in the UK (and that would make life a lot easier) then you have two choices: 1. work as a sole trader. To set up as a sole trader you simply need to ley the Revenue you are starting up, and pay them Class 2 National Insurance (£2.30) per week. You then get taxed (and more national insurance) based on profits which you declare to the Revenue once a year in your tax return. The number to call to register as self employed is 08459 15 45 15. 2. set up your own limited company and work through that. You can set up a company yourself (there are loads of formations agents out there) or do it through your accountant who can also help you structure your payment arrangements in the most effective way. If you do go down this route you may consider paying yourself a mixture of salary and dividend. To pay a salary you have to register the company as an employer and fill in various bits of paperwork on a monthly/quarterly/annual basis as appropriate. To register for PAYE visit http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/newemployers/iwtregister-as-an-employer.shtml or again your accountant can help you with this. You will then possibly have to think about registering for VAT (not compulsory until your turnover in the last 12 months hits £67,000 - but can be worth it in advance). http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_001222&propertyType=document Again your accountant can talk you through the mechanics of how to do this - and most importantly what VAT scheme to use because that can save you quite a lot of money or even earn you more for little effort. Many agencies prefer uising limited companies rather than sole traders, largely because of the "IR35" rules - which basically try to ensure that employees don't try to pass themselves off as self employed contractors (which is more tax efficient). http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ir35/ Depending on the work you do that can require professional advice. Other than that, the usual insurance issues apply (professional indemnity, public liability, employers liability (if you have staff yourself) and so on. I use HERA for my professional insurance and they are quite good. http://www.heraindemnity.co.uk/ The main banks have some quite useful guides to setting up in business on their websites (I find Lloyds TSB and NatWest usually quite good). Hope this helps and is what you were after. kind regards David Nicoll "the accountant with attitude"