Could I be self employed?

[learntojive]

I was made redundant last month after working all my life.
I am down to the last 2 for a job but the employer has told me that although I would be their first choice the other lady they have interviewed is self employed and they would prefer that.
Could I just register myself as self employed and then invoice them each week for the hours - is it that easy?
Is it just a matter of no contract/hol pay etc from the employer and then having to do a tax return and pay class 2 national insurance at the end of the tax year myself?
I only work part time so it's not big earnings, in fact hardly over the tax threshold so I doubt there would be much tax or class 4 NIC to pay, I presume that would all be calculated when I did the tax return.
Grateful for any help anyone can give me x

[hc4361]

You do not choose to be self employed or employed - it is a matter of fact.
If you are working for one company, and can't delegate your work to another person, can't dictate your own hours or take time off when you want it, you are not self employed.

http://www.hmrc.gov.u...loyment-status/index.

[learntojive]

Thanks ...but I can't see why I wouldn't have a choice?
I either work for someone as an employee on their payroll or I pay my own tax and national insurance and just bill them for my time.
The link doesn't seem to be working so I can't read the page you were directing me to.

[NazNomad]

http://www.hmrc.gov.u...ment-status/index.htm

[buildersmate]

You wouldn't have a choice because HMRC doesn't allow employers/employees to dictate whether an employee is self-employed or not. It sets out a series of 'test statements' to help individuals establish it - probably the thing at the end of Naz's link.
It can be used as a mechanism for tax-avoidance - which is why HMRC take such an active interest in ensuring the rules are there and are enforced.
Your best bet is to research the rules so you know what you are talking about then gently try to find a way the suggest to the prospective employer that the post they require to fill doesn't seem like a self-employed role for the reasons of xy and z. So they ought to be employing you, not giving themselves an issue with HMRC. It sounds like they don't understand much about employement and tax law.
Examples of indicators that demonstrate one is self-employed include:
1) do you determine your own working hours
2) do you provide all of the tools and equipment required to deliver the job
There are others.

[learntojive]

Right, thats very interesting, I'm a book keeper so thought I could do a few hours for them and then maybe find other bits of work if I was self employed.
I would be doing regular hours with them though and using their equipment so need to look into this a bit more.
It's just a family business with no employees so they don't want to start with payroll, just need someone to do their books a couple of days a week and would treat me as a supplier really, I don't think there's anything un-toward about it.
Don't know if this throws a different light on it but thanks for your help everyone.

[Skyline D]

Basically, if you are told to be there say 10 - 2 on a couple of certain days a week to do the job and it's all you do workwise then you are an employee. No ifs, buts or maybes. It's invariably tax advantageous to be self employed rather than amployed so that's why the Revenue don't let you just choose.

If you want to register as a self employed book-keeper that's fine but if the Revenue look into it they will expect you to be working for more than one customer (or at least actively trying to be) and most likely to be in a position to decided for yourself what days and times you attend to their book-keeping.

[learntojive]

Skyline D - sorry for the delay I just saw your post.
Thanks very much, that's explained it very well.

[barb1314]

A friend of mine is a self employed book keeper. She does regular hours for a local business and also her own work. NI contributions are paid direct debit monthly (between £8 and £12 for Class 2's and she does an annual tax return. She just invoices her regular client every week and other clients monthly. Very easy to sort out but the tax office is incredibly slow when you first register. They ended up taking 4 months to send my OH his paperwork (he is also self employed as am I) but they just end up taking 6 months NI in one go.

[learntojive]

Well that's exactly the sort of thing I was planning Barb until I read all the comments on here. I can't really see why it's not acceptable to do that. Thanks anyway, sorry for the delay I seem to have stopped getting emails to tell me when I have a reply to my question x