UK is anybody a self employed electrician not under a scheme?

[boffman]

You'll have to check your employment contract also to make sure your employer allows this to happen.

Hi rich, yeah I've combed through my contract and there is nothing outlined in the contract to stop me going ahead

 

[richy3333]

Awesome. Go for it! You said earlier on it would not impact your employer and if your contract is silent then you’re good to go.

good luck with it. Let us all know how you get on.

 

[Philbro04]

Yes I'm self employed running my own business and am not a member of a scheme.

How do I do it?

Simple, I don't normally touch domestic work.

This is the very reason I have just joined this forum, to ask my next steps.

I’m currently employed by a company doing solely commercial installations and noticed that a lot of our sub contractors provide electrical certification under our company name and are not directly a member of a scheme. (Obviously our company is)

In The very near future I plan to start up and become employed. I know I would be able tocertify jobs done as a sub contractor under the main contractors scheme registration but what if I won any work directly to the client, could my previous work undertaken as a sub contractor be used for assessment to join NICEIC? (My name on certificate but main contractors company name)

or would I have to go the building control route fora handful of jobs to be assessed.

many thanks
Phil

 

[PEG]

Hi,you have already had some great advice,but i would add two other important points...

The first,is stay well away,from the general public.

The second,is,read the above

On countless occasions,lads starting out,make desperate and costly efforts,to get hold of the general public....You need to choose your customers,yourself.

Try and engineer it,so in time,it is the unknown,potential customers,who are making all the efforts,to get you. For example,getting themselves,recommended and vetted,by others you trust,to enable you to "consider" them,as a possible customer.

In my opinion,expensive pyramid nonsenses,such as trust a trooper.....are merely a time consuming and costly way of finding THE worst customers,in creation

 

[Mike Johnson]

Register yourself with the HMRC as a "Sole Trader" that way if your present employer is willing you can keep working for them, meanwhile, at an appropriate rate, you never know they may not want to loose you.

Get Quickbooks for your accounts, quick easy and does the VAT return automatically as you invoice and put in your bills, IMO it's best to voluntary register for VAT as then everything you buy, including fuel is 20% cheaper to you, also you can offset your existing equipment against your profit.

 

[Simon47]

VAT registering also means you have to add VAT to your labour. If your customers are predominantly not VAT registered, then you've added 20% to a big chunk of your price.
It makes no difference to the cost of bought in materials - if VAT registered you reclaim the supply VAT and add it on again at the other end, if not registered you don't reclaim it and it passes through and ends up the same at the other end.
It's really only a benefit if a proportion of your customers are VAT registered.

Registering for VAT doesn't affect being able to claim (e.g.) value of tools put into the business against profits.

And in answer to the first question, I'm not in a scam - but then my electrical work is just a bit of a sideline and the profits wouldn't pay for scam membership. Mostly I went to the trouble of doing a business to regularise doing some work for our church.

 

[Zerax]

The whole "Should I register for VAT" question is an interesting one. It's certainly beneficial in the early stages of a new start-up, as you can reclaim the VAT on all the initial setup costs and tooling etc. But as a long term thing... you're just an unpaid tax collector working for HMRC.

I see that the notorious David Savery has now de-registered... I wonder what his reasons were for doing so.

 

[Mike Johnson]

But being registered as a Sole Trader you can right down the depreciation of your equipment each year against your TAX, you can also claim a proportion of your housing tax against the room you use as your trading place of business, it really is a win win situation being voluntarily registered, I am always surprised by how many people do not understand the tax rules that we operate under.

 

[Zerax]

But being registered as a Sole Trader you can right down the depreciation of your equipment each year against your TAX, you can also claim a proportion of your housing tax against the room you use as your trading place of business, it really is a win win situation being voluntarily registered, I am always surprised by how many people do not understand the tax rules that we operate under.

With respect Mike... I think you're confusing VAT tax with Schedule D income tax. Regardless of whether you're registered for VAT or not, you can still claim for expenses that are 'wholly and exclusively' for the business, including various allowances for business use.

Also, for calculating your income tax liability, you're not allowed 'depreciation', it's called 'capital allowances' instead.