Sole trader to limited company

For you it means more paperwork/audited accounts/cost. For them it probably means they get Revenue off their back for not paying employment taxes.

Paying a limited company rather than a sole trader will make no difference to the employer/ payer, from a revenue point of view.

You are correct, but if Revenue were looking to claim the OP should be classed as an employee as opposed to contractor, a ltd company is one step further away than a sole trader so protects the employer.

I used to get around this by ensuring I invoiced at least two other companies in any tax year. Can you do that?

As for accessing money, you might have to set up a business bank account. You’ll need to get your business set up first. I can recommend startuphub.ie

Perfect. As long as you can show you've done work for other companies, Revenue should be fine with it.

OP would qualify for audit exemption as a small company but yes will have to file accounts.

It has other implications - filing an annual return and also initiallyit will affect his credit rating. If OP has suppliers he should notify them in advance of the change and explain the reason. On the upside changing to LTD will shift liability from him/her personally to the new entity. It also is seen by many as more professional.

Some light reading for you. 😋

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

One would assume your client/employer would have consulted with their accountants about this and they would have acted on their advice as opposed to just chancing their arm.