Interesting...
I find the squawking around IR35 interesting, especially some of the above comments... I would sincerely hope that those protesting they are paying their tax are not the same on here who then turn around lambasting Amazon et al for employing aggressive tax accountants to minimise their tax exposure? After all, they just do what you do, just on an appropriately larger scale. They do after all pay *their* taxes too.
Back when I was in the contracting game (yes, I was, during and after IR35 introduction), there were several organisations catering exclusively to contractors who prided themselves in 'cost recovering up to 95% of your earnings' by using the system in such a way that you effectively dodged paying employer and employee NI and taxes as much as possible (after all, that's the disadvantage of having a Ltd - you get to pay both!). By paying yourself the minimum wage (and paying employer/ee NI and PAYE on that) and taking the rest as a dividend every month (which *is* legal, after all, and possibly having to paying the vastly reduced tax on that), your tax exposure was, well... minimal. Add to that the cost recovery of travel expenses, the per diem, accommodation expenses etc, you truly could recover something like 95% of your high daily fee.
Was it sailing a little close to the wind? Perhaps! But then again, that's why Amazon et al are getting their arses roasted... that too many people find that morally reprehensible.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
