Question 1

Registering for CIS (Construction Industry Scheme)

Accepted Answer

Should you operate on a self-employed basis in the construction industry, you will likely need to register for the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS). Under this scheme, we will deduct 20% as a flat rate from your payments and pass this to HMRC. Should you fail to register, we may need to deduct this at a rate of 30%.

If you have not already done so, you will first need to register for self-assessment with HMRC and apply for a UTR number. Our article explains how you can do this.

You can register for CIS on the Government Gateway, using your Government Gateway ID and password that you used when you registered for self-assessment (or another government service).

Question 2

Applying for a UTR number for self-assessment

Accepted Answer

Should you wish to engage on a self-employed basis, you will need to register with HMRC for self-assessment. This process is essentially you self-declaring to HMRC, that you will be engaging this way.

In doing so, HMRC will issue you a a 'Unique Tax Reference' (UTR) number. This is your unique code that you will use in correspondence with HMRC as well as when you submit your self-assessment tax return.

You can register on the government website here: https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment

You must register for Self Assessment by 5 October if you need to complete a Self Assessment tax return and have not sent one before. You could be fined if you do not.

Should you be operating in the construction industry, you may also need to register for the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS). Our article explains how you can do this.

Question 3

Your Tax code

Accepted Answer

Every person in the UK gets a set amount of money per financial year for which they pay no tax and NI on. This is known as the tax free allowance. Above this amount, people will pay the relevant tax and national insurance.

For example, in the tax year/financial year 2023/2024, every UK resident had £12,570 as their tax free allowance. This is translated into a tax code, in this case 1257L (£10,500 would be 1050L and so on). This would become a standard tax code for that financial year. It allows payroll software and employers to ensure the correct tax free allowance is applied each week (£12,570 broken down over 52 weeks so £241) to their employees – whilst self-employed workers have a tax free allowance, this is calculated through their tax return.

Some workers’ tax code may be altered by HMRC if they owe or are owed tax. For instance, based on the example above, if a tax code was 900L, it would suggest they have a tax free allowance of only £9000 for the year and that in fact they owe HMRC tax. Occasionally, HMRC will issue a K tax code, for example K450, which means they owe a lot of tax and are paying it on more than their income. In this example, they pay tax on £4500 per year more than they earn.

If an employee has more than one job or is claiming a pension, then they will likely be on a BR (basic rate tax code). This allows one employer to provide the tax free allowance and ensure the second employer (or pension provider) doesn’t allow a second amount of tax fre

Question 4

Applying for a new Birth Certificate

Accepted Answer

As an employer and an organisation that engages workers, we have a responsibility to maintain compliance standards and uphold immigration laws. As such, we verify every worker's Right to Work (RTW) in the UK.

Workers may not always have a passport that they can demonstrate their RTW and for British Nationals, a British birth certificate and proof of National Insurance number can offer an alternative.

Should you not have access to your birth certificate and need to order a new one, you can do this on using a government portal:

https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate

Question 5

Generating a share code

Accepted Answer

As the Home Office digitises its Visa system, many immigration checks on an individual's Right to Work (RTW) in the UK can be done online. For foreign nationals with a visa granting them the right to work in the UK, you can prove your immigration status by providing us with a 'Share Code'. We can use this, along with other personal data, to verify your RTW.

To generate a share code, you can click the link below and follow the Home Office instructions:

https://www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status

Question 6

Opting out of the company pension scheme

Accepted Answer

As an employee of Clipper Contracting Group, you will be enrolled into a workplace pension scheme. We typically defer this for 12 weeks but you may want to opt-in from day 1 should you wish.

What happens when you want to opt-out though?

Unfortunately, the law is quite clear that an employer cannot opt-out on your behalf. This is something you will need to do personally. This prevents rogue and unscrupulous employers from preventing employees entering the pension scheme and saving themselves the employer contributions.

Should you wish to opt-out of the workplace pension scheme, please follow these steps:

Wait until you have received the member pack from NEST Pensions
Should you want to opt-out immediately after the first pension deduction, you will have to wait at least a week after the first payment with a pension deduction, before NEST Pensions will have your information in order to opt you out.
Contact NEST Pension either on 0300 020 0090 or by logging in on www.nestpensions.org.uk/member-hub

Once you have opted-out, NEST Pension will notify us and we will make the changes our side. Please note that any refund on previous pension contributions can only go back as far as 1 calendar month.

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