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Sorry to leave you on a bit of a cliffhanger last week, I had intended to have an update for you sooner, but I was struck down by something over the weekend, time to get things back on track.

So what do Gabem's new payment contracts mean to you? Well if you are happily in one of our umbrella companies, nothing at all. You will continue to enjoy the benefits of your Gabem Umbrella Company. For those of you considering signing up for one of our self employed payment contracts (Gabem CIS for self employed workers in the construction industry, and Gabem Solo for self employed workers outside the construction industry), there are a few things you need to consider.

Both payment contracts require you to find your UTR (unique tax reference) number, you should already have one if you've ever completed a self assessment online, otherwise it may appear on tax documents you've received.

If you will be using the Gabem CIS payment contract you will also have to be registered with the New Construction Industry Scheme (which changed from the original Construction Industry Scheme in April 2007), if you previously had a CIS 4 card and were paid through it within the last 2 years we've been told that the registration will have been carried over (but I would check anyway just in case). We will need to verify your CIS registration with HMRC before we can take you on. As a quick aside, if you have an old CIS 4 card and don't know your UTR, it will be the first 10 digits of your old CIS number.

However, the most important consideration is that of your employment status. To take advantage of our CIS and Solo payment contracts you need to be self-employed or "in business in your own right" as the HMRC likes to say. There are four areas that are considered the key factors in determining your status: the right to control your own work - you determine how you carry out your work, mutuality of obligation - essentially the ability to refuse work, substitution - can you send a substitute to complete your work, and financial risk - do you pay for your own tools for example and can you make a profit or loss. Sounds complicated but we will be providing you with more information over the next few weeks and you will soon be able to request our new brochure, which will have all the information you need.

Well I am off to recover a little more, I hope you all have a great weekend, and that none of you catch this in the meantime.

Hugo
12/09/2008