Registering for VAT

ck01

Hello,

Looking for advice and some clarity and also any suggestions on reading material to help educate myself !

My husband is a sole trader and so am I. Neither of us are PAYE workers.

He has one business and I have another ( mine's a small turnover one )
We are jointly assessed and this year his turnover for 2017 is over €35k so he is having to register for VAT.

Our system is manual so this is going to be a good bit extra work - having everything accounted for and documented ( which is of course a good thing )

My query is if there is anything else we should be doing as both sole traders regards tax apart from filing tax returns every 2 months. Would most small businesses do their own vat returns or is it advisable to have accountant submit those as well as end of year returns?

Currently we have quite a few freelance people working on and off ( seasonal business ) and they give us an invoice for each day they work... as they are freelance ( tour guides ) Our accountant has said that they should be our employees but the days are flexible and often arranged at short notice. The people are happy not to be employed the arrangment suits all sides as is. Our accountant has mentioned this a few times so it obviously is not an ideal way of working ? I want to do it right but employing a lot of people that would work only occasionally ( but at times regularly ) seems like it would be expensive ( or even impossible for someone as new to this as me !!! )

However I will be looking at having someone help with office work and they will need to be an employee with set hours. I have no idea how that works and whats involved with becoming an employer. If there was an online reference website anyone can direct me to or a book that gets a good recommendation so that I can start to find out all I need to know about this new aspect to our business !!!

Apologies if my post is long winded with quite a few queries within but I am a bit daunted by this side of business.

Thank you.

Calahonda52

this is not a Vat query.

What is the office help required: can you get accountant to do it.

As an accountant I don't agree you need them as employees.

ck01

Calahonda52 wrote: »

this is not a Vat query.

What is the office help required: can you get accountant to do it.

As an accountant I don't agree you need them as employees.

Thank you and sorry, I did go off on a different direction to the title. I am however looking for recommendations on books / online resources on VAT returns for small business in Ireland . Also on employing someone part time. I need someone for general office duties so not suitable for an accountant.
Happy to read that you feel the casual work is ok once we get invoice. I thought so too but my accountant stresses that revenue might look at it differently as say we should be employing. I think I'll keep going on that as we are.
Thanks again.

relax carry on

Your post seems to relate to employees in the main. You as a business must adhere to the below in relation to contract of/contract for.

Code of practice on employment status.

https://www.revenue.ie/en/self-assessment-and-self-employment/documents/code-of-practice-on-employment-status.pdf

A worker is normally an employee if they:

are directed by someone on how, when and where to work
have set working hours
have no personal financial risk relating to the work
receive a fixed wage
supply labour only
cannot subcontract the work
are covered under the employer’s insurance
work for only one person or business.

A worker is normally self-employed if they:

control how, when and where the work is done
control their working hours
are exposed to financial risk
control costs and pricing
can hire other people to complete the job
provide their insurance cover
own their business
can provide the same services to more than one person or business at the same time.

CIARAN_BOYLE

It's never a choice that soemone is an employee or a contractor. It's a fact that they are or they are not an employee.

If they are an employee and you treat them as a contractor and you are revenue audited you are personally exposed big time.

If your accountant is pushing that your contractors should be employees ask your accountant for his advice on structuring the employment. Your accountant may be able to offer support on payroll and contracts of employment.

ck01

Thank you, that clarifies things a lot. Much appreciated.

spoiler

Hi,

Enclosed link may be of help.

https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/becoming-an-employer-and-ongoing-obligations/guide-to-pay-as-you-earn-paye/index.aspx

Your accountant is correct the tour guides could be seen as employees. It would be up to you to prove they are not employees. There is no such thing as casual labour they should be on payroll. Link to this article may help you http://www.cpaireland.ie/docs/default-source/Students/Study-Support/P1-Corporate-Laws-Governance/contract-for-services-v-contract-of-services.pdf?sfvrsn=0

If you need any more info pm me and I will see what I can send on also may be able to help in other ways.