A job offer - good pay - but without PAYE

I got offered a job in Bristol, which I am mulling over this Thanksgiving.

The punt on the job is that they are not providing PAYE. How important is this, and how do I make sure that I am able to calculate my taxes for the UK and the US without it? Is there a way for getting the bank to do this for me?

Hi there,

My 'payroll' experience is limited and i'm sure other's will know more about this, however, I found this http://www.qck.com/paye-guide.html which should help you start to research exactly what you need to do.

(a brief read of it seems to suggest you'll be responsible for working out your tax either by submitting stuff to the Inland Revenue or using a Tax Accountant. A 3rd option is to buy Tax Calculation software and feed the figures into it, let it calculate for you and then file online!

I used to work for Intuit, and was part of the Tax Product in terms of software development, so I have a gist of the Tax laws but nothing concrete enough to advise you directly.

If you search more, there's quite alot of sites which discuss tax, PAYE etc etc and I'm sure you'll find more info!

Cheers! DtM - West London & Slough UK!

I have just completed my first tax return and was pretty scared about it, but it was actually a doddle - far more straight forward, I gather, than doing the US returns.  Basically, if you get the return in by the first deadline you are given, all you have to do is tell them how much you have earned gross, and they calculate it for you.

Not sure how the US side of things would work though...

Vicky

If the company interviewed you as a prospective employee then I cannot see how you could be classified as an independent contractor.

If however you are truly self-employed then specialist UK and US tax advice will assist.

Yes, you really need to be careful of IR35 regulations.  If you get nailed with an IR35 ruling against you, your are going to be really really grumpy.

Things like only providing services to one client, not being in control of your hours or your workplace, etc are a dead giveaway for getting caught by IR35.

If you aren't sure what IR35 is or how it might affect you, I would check out http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ir35/ and http://www.contractoruk.com/ir35/ to make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.

The self assessment is fairly easy, especially compared to a US tax return...  As far as US taxes, I would get professional advice.

Hang on a sec....you may have problems as a work permit holder if you are not on PAYE.  It gets EXTREMELY complicated.  You are going to need to make sure that you are being paid the equivalent of PAYE, otherwise you will be in breach of the terms of the work permit.  I think your best bet may be to get in touch with an umbrella company who can handle this side of things for you.  But as I said, you can't do anything such as be paid offshore, you must pay the equivalent of PAYE.

Vicky