Wage stopages

[dyli795]

I've been offered a job as a freelance, to be paid gros and for me to sort out the usual outgoings for myself. I think an average wage has about twenty per cent of it redirected before the intended recipient gets it, is that true if being paid gros ?

[Carol Anne]

Hi dyli, if you are working and being paid freelance then you are not on the PAYE roster of your 'client' for want of a better word. You are effectively self-employed. Get in touch with your local tax office and get them to send you the guidelines and shop around for a reasonably priced accountant to do your tax and NI contributions for you.
From now on in, keep every last receipt, even just for a cup of coffee, plus all your statements etc,. and you should be OK.
Good luck.

[buildersmate]

The straight answer to your question is that 10% disappears in NI and 20-odd% in PAYE tax. Unless you earn big money (and pay higher rate tax). So 30% in total gets lost between gross pay and net pay. But if you are doing a straight comparison between being employed and being a freelance, ther margin between the two should be much bigger than that because you have no job security, no employers contribution to pensions and you have to do (or pay for) all your admin. In the industry I work in, the mark-up is closer to 100%, so negotiate as hard as you can.

[dyli795]

Thankyou all for the answers. I'll give them plenty of thaught. The other details to my plight are that about six weeks ago me and my work collegues all where made redundant one Friday afternoon. I wasn't there long enough to start claiming redundancy pay and all that so I've just signed on. I've been running 'round like a headless chikhen ( as my wife puts it ) to find a job of any kind.
The only positive response I've had was from someone who would like to "employ" me under the conditions I explain in my original post. He has a young company but it looks to me like it should go places, however he's explained to me that he had to "get rid" of two people he had working for him and it cost him �20,000. I think they must of been unionised and the correct proceadures weren't followed or somthing. Anyway I'm not in a union and only expect to be paid for contributing my skills and hard work to the success of the company. So, I'm thinking of offering him a four weeks trial period, open ended; or, he can start me at, say 25 hours per week or what ever, or a mixture of the two! In any event, I wouldn't get all letigious on him and I know I would be a valuable asset to his venture. He even admits he needs someone to be doing what he currently spends time doing so as to free him up for other aspects of the job. I'll pop 'round and see him later today, so thanks again fir your help, and wish me luck!