If you’re a contractor or pay self employed tax, you could be contributing significantly more self employed tax than you could be . By setting up an umbrella company you can work to reduce the red tape surrounding the process through which you are paid for your labour , and take back a good deal of common overheads against tax .
To posit an example, if you were a consultant contracted to an advertising company on a self employed basis, you may opt to establish an umbrella company which would be your employer on a full time basis, and be paid for your time by the firm to which you are contracted. The umbrella company could then salary you as an employee rather than as a contractor . The other big benefit to umbrella companies is that you can 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 costs that the umbrella company could deduct from your self employed tax in this fashion might include mileage or other travelling costs, your broadband at home if you use it for work . You could also choose to have your umbrella company issue you with a company car and smartphone, and to a limited extent 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 other person is then paid by the umbrella company, rather than paying self employed tax. The cash given to the third party is actually a portion of the income paid to the contractor by the contracting company, but by dividing this income among two employees 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 income (at present the first ?7,475, rising in 2012/13 to ?8,105, and with a further rise announced in the Spring 2012 budget) going untaxed.