How does one go freelance?

[almostwitty]

Thanks to a lovely blogger friend of mine (who says blogging gets you nowhere?) I have now embarked on the strange and interesting world that is freelancing, for one major employer (spending weekdays in ol' London town - come and say hi!) doing some online editing and writing, which is nice.

It's a bit of an eyeopener into the way that "real" publishing works, and I've got some stuff to learn but as the Amerikanski would say, It's All Good.

However, the vexed question of my official status and how I should be paid has arisen. Should I:

- go completely freelance, and just invoice the company direct, and sort out tax and National Insurance at the end of the year? The slight flaw being I'm not sure i can be a "sole trader" if I'm just working for one employer.

- go on their payroll as a casual? Easiest option, but least lucrative I guess...

- employ an umbrella company to be the middle man for sorting out invoices and the like...

What do you think?

Comments

[bea-in-a-bonnet.livejournal.com]

You can be a self-employed sole trader and employed at the same time. So how you work it is up to you.

HOWEVER... you MUST notify HMRC within three months of trading (either taking money or advertising your services) i.e. if you have been paid for freelance work you are now classed as self-employed and must inform the tax people. If not the automatic fine is £100... that's as a minimum... further info on registering as self-employed can be found here.

Tax/national insurance for a sole trader is, in theory meant to be relatively straight forward but you may want to get some professional advice on your finances if you are employed and self-employed. Or even if you're just working for various companies.

There's also a fair wack of info on being self-employed on the Business Link site www.businesslink.gov.uk.

Essentially, it's up to you how you feel most comfortable working but you need to make yourself aware of the legal issues around tax etc. so you don't, for want of a better phrase, shaft yourself.

I'd suggest contacting your local Business Link/Business Advice centre who should be able to provide you with, for free, information on your options.

Disclaimer - this is based on my current knowledge... I seriously suggest you ask the professionals... you should be able to do this for free.

[madmosh-uk.livejournal.com]

Good luck with it, but do be careful with all the tax pitfalls. The government *will* try to fuck you up the arse any chance it gets, no matter how much you try to stay above-board and honest. Hence why I'm looking at doing my contracting *outside* of the UK...