Benefits of a Limited Company

• Most agencies and end clients will only want to deal with Limited Companies.
• You can build your own brand and in the future could potentially employ others.
• You can control the type of work you wish to provide and only enter into contracts which suit your personal circumstances.
• If you build your business a Limited Company is a saleable asset.
• Most business costs can qualify for tax relief and can be offset in calculating the company's taxable profit.
• You can choose exactly how you wish to be paid, for example you can pay yourself wages up to the Lower Earnings Limit to reduce the amount of National Insurance Contributions you need to pay, while still ensuring you are eligible for the basic state pension.
• If your company generates a profit, then a dividend can be paid which is a tax and NIC efficient method of rewarding the shareholder(s).

Other Points to Consider

• Setting-up and running your own limited company is a big decision and is not ideal if you are only expecting to be contracting over the short-term.
• You will be responsible for finding work and still have overall responsibility as the business owner and director to ensure your accounts are accurate, you have adequate insurance cover in-place and for managing your bank account, making payments and chasing unpaid invoices. It is also important that tax receipts are collected for all business expenses. PayMatters will consider your circumstances and aim to provide the best accountancy support and advice based on your requirements.
• As a Limited Company you should consider the IR35 and Managed Service Company legislation.
• If you are outside the scope of IR35 then you are also likely to be outside the protection given through the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR). These regulations are active from October 2011 and are designed to ensure you are treated at least equally to other similar workers on the site where you're working. As you will be running your own business it will be your responsibility to ensure you negotiate your own terms.