Advice for idiot needed. TAX, SELECT?? (Constructive if poss!!)

[Smudge]

Hi all,

i'm currently working as the electrical supervisor at a maltings in Scotland. I have done a full recognized apprenticeship (domestic), got my approved grading, and 17th edition. Electrically, i seem to be doing not bad...but now my concern?!

I am consantly phoned by friends/relatives/randoms offering small domestic jobs to me. As it is just now, i dont do them, but i am interested in starting them. My excuse has always been that i'm not VAT or Select registered. What do i actually need to do to start this? And for signing jobs off? Who do i contact? And more importantly, as this would be classed as a second job, has anyone done it to see if its worth while or not?? It's literally for the odd weeked job, maybe an extra night a week (depending if the jobs keep getting offered), but i dont want to do it if its more hassle than its worth.

Any help appreciated, i'm a complete beginer when it comes to any sort of business control hence my questions.

Thanks

 

[alarm man]

just dont declare it,simples,its commonly known as a fiddle or a guvy/cash in hand job

 

[Dan23584]

What the tax man doesn't know won't hurt him.

 

[Dcf]

you only need select for building warrant jobs to certify them yourself.VAT won't be concern for the amount of work you would be doing.

 

[Smudge]

Am i right in thinking for giving any certification, a minor works and a photocopy of my approved card will suffice? Or have i been mislead. My fear being getting to the end of the job (bathrooms, kitchens, almost certainly not full re-wires as i dont think i could commit the time) and not being able to certify this. Apologies for my ignorance, i've been working maintenance the last 4 odd years and trying to quickly catch back up on the domestic game...

 

[Geordie Spark]

What the tax man doesn't know won't hurt him.

As my old accountant used to say: "Fiddle and tell as many lies to the Revenue as you like, but ALWAYS keep records so that you know the truth and can PROVE what is the truth"

And, keep receipts for EVERYTHING you buy - even socks, underwear, tea milk sugar, newspapers etc. In the hands of a good accountant it can all form part of your defence when the revenue capture you.

 

[Smudge]

please be clear, i will be declaring the jobs if i decide to go ahead with them. My original question was where to i start with all this? I'm worried cause its a second job, obviously tax (no one wants to get hammered), and being able to certify my work LEGALLY in some way.

 

[polo1]

Smudge, I'll leave the tax side to someonelse (altho' it would be worth you chatting to an accountant). What you should get is insurance (liability and poss indemnity) cover which is not that expensive.

In Scotland, it's only if you want to certify work which is subject to a Building Warrant that you will need to join one of the schemes (SELECT, NIC- etc), otherwise your customer will have to advance notify for the council to arrange inspection and sign off at extra cost. You'll need a calibrated multifunction tester if you don't already have access to one. All the certs you need are available (just check this web site!!).

Good luck! :smiley2:

 

[Smudge]

thanks polo, i'll go with that i think. Got all the testers at work anyway, so just need to get the forms then. Is it best to see an accountant before i start these jobs? or is it as long as i keep copies of reciepts etc for records? If all works out, it could be the end of being an employee.

 

[polo1]

Don't see anything wrong in getting a few jobs under your belt whilst setting up an appointment with an accountant (if you know of any small businesses/self employed locally, ask them who they use).

As mentioned above, make sure you keep all receipts (including fuel and mileage); also, I'd get the insurance in place too - chances are you could "manage" without in the short term, but it only requires you to put a foot through a ceiling or cut a water pipe and you're in the doo-doo.

I think one thing missing from most trades is the intention of giving excellent customer service (no offence to Forum members as they often display good attitude via their posts). Be reliable, tidy and offer a good service at a fair price - you'll be surprised how well word of mouth will serve you. That said, times are hard out there and lots of cowboys (I saw a plumbing job last night that you could not have made up!), so think very hard before giving up the current day job.

 

[Smudge]

thanks for the advice, appreciated. I wont be rushing into anything as i appreciate how things are at the moment (i'm one of the mugs trying to sell their house right now). Any tips on insurance?? Is this a simple phonecall/online form, or is it an organised meeting with a company? I need to figure out a price list aswel, as believe it or not, this is yet another thing i'm clueless about! The joys of always having a boss and the admin side taken care of.

 

[VoltzElectrical]

why don't you set up a limited company and sub the work out (at a slightly lower price) and make tax free (dividends) profit from it? You'll never make proper money working for yourself. Get the work through your reputation/ name, then get others to install it for you under your 'company'. Obviously you'll need good labour that you can trust, but a supervisor such as yourself must surely know a few good boys that you can sub it out to for a few quid. I can help a bit with some advice on this if you want.

 

[oldtimer]

As you are in Scotland some local authorities will take certification by "enquiry" or in other words a colour photocopy of your grade card front and back why because you are not legally obliged to have Select or NIECE memebership as now they will say otherwise that you need to be a member but will not say straight out that you have to be so they have taken the secret club approuch ie we recommend that you use a member because these people who are not registered could be iffy but some local authorities realise that they could be taken to court as an infringment on European free trade. If you can prove you are fully qualified and insured then quite simply you are good to go Also Part P does not exist in Scotland and never will (direct quote from Select).

So whats the problem well there are too many registration companies who in my view run about handing out memberships ,training , documentation for a fee yes they say we ar not for profit but the whole thing is just a bl**dy mess hence why we are seen as a joke a friend who is registered is totally disillusioned as he was asked by them to sort out another members mess he asked why dont you just take his registration off him and he got a fudged answer now he sees himself as just a cash cow because he needs to be registered ie he needs to be a member of the club to do work for xxxxx but he feels they are just skimming off his bottom line and contribute nothing to what he sees as his profession.

Forgot to add you dont have to be VAT registered you can run a business part time whilst in full time employment all you need to do is inform HMR&C and complete a tax return once a year plus all these grab the cash comments remember in these trying times people are feeling the squeeze so your cash jobs could be a phone call to a hotline and HMR&C will fine you then estimate that you have had a job like this every week so that will be the tax and NI for 52 jobs thank you very much