Re: FN-FORUM: soletrader + limited company

date posted 10th August 2004 20:01

Rob Garbutt wrote:

> I know this has been covered many times but I'd just like to know if it is
> feasible to have a limited company and delegate work from your limited
> comany to yourself as a sole trader

IANAA or a tax lawyer, but AFAIAA no, it isn't. Because the
businesses would essentially be the same the IR would almost certainly
tear you apart (and HMC&E get really sniffy, especially if one of them
is VAT registered and the other isn't).

You would, almost certainly fall foul of IR35 even if you didn't fall
foul of a whole host of other regulations if you tried to pull the
above.

> My accountant tells me

I'd say that your best bet would be to get your accountant to explain
it all to you so you understand, as it's a nightmare, and on a list
like this you'll probably get a mixture of totally wrong, vaguely
accurated and well-informed responses, which may not be easy to tell
apart :)

If you don't trust/believe/understand your accountant, go talk to
another one as well.

Cheers,

Pete
--
Peter Croft
PC Associates