Locum start up advice

RE: Locum start up advice

Calli D — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 14:49:10 GMT

''It is as I thought - as nurses we can't legally claim commuting travel to/from home and our placements (nor meals) as expenses. I know I can claim travel on business that isn't commuting such as being sent from the placement practice to, say, another practice delivering meds. Alison Claire Hickman'' (sorry I don't know how to tag a thread)

Thank you for clarifying that Alison. I get so much conflicting information from people I work with that was beginning to think I had it wrong. Locum Vets tell me I can definitely claim commuting mileage as they do, but I had been advised before that you can't, so I haven't. I didn't know that about the meals though, but to be honest I have only claimed meals when away for congress or something like that so no big change there. Thats such a pain that nurses are treated differently.

RE: Locum start up advice

Alison Clare Hickman — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 07:12:13 GMT

Jill Challis

following!

RE: Locum start up advice

Jill Challis — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 23:14:21 GMT

Interesting. All I can say is that I have discussed this at length with my tax office and fully explained the nature and type of work that I do, also the situation of using an umbrella company and HMRC have still given me advice on what paperwork I needed to complete. I will ring i4 and contact the tax office again and see if they say anything different to what I have been told two years running.

RE: Locum start up advice

Alison Clare Hickman — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 09:41:25 GMT

Jill Challis I contacted Purlieus Consulting who I trust as an HMRC compliant umbrella company...

https://www.purlieusconsulting.co.uk/

This is the blurb...

New regulations were introduced regarding claiming Travel and Subsistence and took effect from 06 April 2016. Therefore, HMRC have made it very difficult to allow expenses for a locum/contractor unless they pass a Supervision Direction or Control (SDC) review at a cost of £50 plus VAT. This review is only possible to pass for self employed professionals and not for positions like a nurse as nurses are deemed as employed so nurses would fail the review.

So if a locum/contractor passed a SDC review and expenses have been genuinely incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the duties (expenses during a shift to carry out the job) then contractors should keep receipts for all expenses incurred, not least because the taxman has the legal right to audit receipts at any time! So we will ask for copies of all expenses before considering them.

For contractors who feel that they are not supervised, directed or controlled at work and feel they would pass a Supervision, Direction or Control (SDC) review (carried out by an independent tax consultancy) then they must pass the review before we would process expenses. This review costs £50 plus VAT for EVERY contract undertaken.

It is as I thought - as nurses we can't legally claim commuting travel to/from home and our placements (nor meals) as expenses. I know I can claim travel on business that isn't commuting such as being sent from the placement practice to, say, another practice delivering meds. I'd need business travel on my car insurance as well for this (now that's claimable!).

I am acutely aware that accurate tax reporting falls squarely on the reporters shoulders; that's ourselves. We can't blame the Umbrella Company for providing the information. It's up to us to decide if it's a claimable expense or not.

Claiming for an expenses that's not allowable could end up with being found out by HMRC as wanting, and then having to pay the monies back to HMRC and possible fines... eeeek. So, I am extra careful. I wouldn't want anyone else to fall foul of this legislation, hence this post and my interest in the subject.

Be careful out there everyone.

Peace, love, information!

Hth

Ali h

RE: Locum start up advice

Alison Clare Hickman — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 22:03:54 GMT

Thanks Jill. I will call them. Sounds like a good plan

RE: Locum start up advice

Jill Challis — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 21:28:14 GMT

Hi,

What I have said is that I claim the tax back on my mileage. For the first 10,000 miles you are allotted 45p. So, if I do 2000 miles in a year you will have accumulated a total of around £900 and you can claim the tax back on this amount, but it is not claiming milage as such. It works like a normal tax rebate which is what it is I guess. If you contact i4 I am sure they will be happy to explain everything to you. They really are very helpful and may provide you with a list of allowable expenses. They basically include all the normal stuff like meals purchased, accommodation, transport costs if not driving, congestion charges, tolls, professional fees and training and education (some cpd stuff). You cannot claim for uniforms,, shoes etc. The one thing I did not initially do was notify my car insurance company. I was covered for travelling to work and back, but once or twice I had to use my own car to get to branch surgeries and this counted as business use which incurred an additional fee. So all I do is get a hundred miles of business use added to my insurance for a nominal fee each year.

RE: Locum start up advice

Alison Clare Hickman — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 20:44:18 GMT

I am confused now... I can't find anything that states working under an umbrella company as a locum, post April 2016, we are eligible to claim travel expenses...

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employment-intermediaries-travel-expense-guidance/travel-and-subsistence-expenses-for-workers-engaged-through-employment--2016

More research needed me thinks! Gonna call an Umbrella and find out more. Can anyone else shed light on this for me?

Ta.

Ali h

RE: Locum start up advice

Alison Clare Hickman — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 06:43:01 GMT

Jill Challis

Interesting that you claim your mileage... I need to research this further! What other expenses does your Umbrella permit?

Thanks

Ali h

RE: Locum start up advice

Jill Challis — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 23:32:21 GMT

Hi,

I have been doing locum work for four and a half years and I have been with i4 umbrella group for the entire time. I have never had a single problem with them and have always been paid on time the week following the one I work. I did consider becoming a Ltd company but when I spoke to other locums, some had had difficulty getting work and were not always paid very quickly. However, I am sure other locums will tell you something different.

All i do is submit my hours to i4 each Friday night and my timesheet to my agency. Their online portal makes it all simple. You can still claim your mileage back. You used to submit a mileage claim for each job to i4 and they would pay it to you in your weekly salary. All that has changed is that now i4 keep a running total of your mileage claim and send you the total at the end of the financial year and you then claim the tax on the mileage back from HMRC directly. In effect it means instead of small amounts being paid back to you weekly, you get it as a lump sum in the new financial year. You can claim tax back from vds and rcvs registration and obviously any allowable expenses but you would need to keep receipts for them.

It may sound complicated but actually its easy, they sort your tax and national insurance and you will never have a problem finding work. Doing locum work will broaden your skills and knowledge and you will wonder why you ever got stuck in a permanent job with somebody telling you you can only have 4 weeks holiday a year. On average, I take 12 weeks. Howver, you must be prepared to budget accordingly because you do not get sick pay and holiday pay is included in each pay packet. Contact i4 and have chat to them, or ask your locum agency who they normally deal with. In my experience they prefer umbrella candidates to Ltd companies but thats just the agencies I use.

Not sure if thats helped at all.I find its always best to contact these folk directly and form your own opinions otherwise you get lots of conflicting info that can put you off of doing something

RE: Locum start up advice

Alison Clare Hickman — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 09:51:04 GMT

https://www.vetnurse.co.uk/working-together/w/veterinary-nursing-jobs-career-recruitment-advice/1080.locuming-guide.aspx

RE: Locum start up advice

Samantha Flavell — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 06:38:23 GMT

If you are definitely only looking at short term I would do umbrella. Although Ltd easy to set up you will have a lot of paperwork to do to close down, and also would ideally need an accountant to help with accounts during the first year.

If you are in it for the long haul then definitely compare umbrella Vs ltd.

With umbrella you can no longer claim expenses for milage etc, but you can claim direct with HMRC for professional subscriptions such as VDS etc.

Some umbrellas did alter their costs slightly when this change happened. I used to use FPS group. Paid £15/invoice and they always paid on time.

Alison did a very good intro to locumming on this website so recommend you check that out.

Hope that helps, PM me if needs be :)

RE: Locum start up advice

nikki.mits — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 22:52:43 GMT

Hi there

I have been a locum for about 5 years. initially I did use an umbrella company, but to be honest I wouldn't recommend it. You come out with less money, when the initial cost to set yourself up as a ltd company is not that much, and its pretty easy to do.

Its is more tax efficient to be a ltd company as well because you can offset a lot of expenses.

Some colleagues I know do use umbrella companies, but to be honest the wages are not the best anyway, so I'd rather save what I can.

Hope this helps!

RE: Locum start up advice

Sam Elgersma — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 08:59:52 GMT

Hi, I've searched the webinar web website but i cant find this particular CPD talk. Was it definitely The Webinar Vet site you saw it??

Thanks,

RE: Locum start up advice

Denise Cooke — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 20:58:46 GMT

Hi not sure if this aloud but the webinar vet just done a CPD talk. Its called Everything you need to know about Locuming and its free to everyone

RE: Locum start up advice

Alison Clare Hickman — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 20:22:50 GMT

hi,

just searched FB 'Vet Nurse Chatter' for info and 2 mentions...

Vanilla

Red Ego

Recommend joining vn chatter and asking your question. Possibly get bigger response than on here?

hth

RE: Locum start up advice

VetNurse Anon a/c — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 16:00:55 GMT

Thank you, I have looked but cannot find specific info on what companies people are with or whether the companies are charging less now due to changes in travel expense allowances.

RE: Locum start up advice

enigmaticat-uk — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 17:33:04 GMT

I don't have any personal experience but there have been quite a few threads on this in the last year or so. If you use the search box & search for umbrella, I'm sure you'll find them.