FAQ’s

An umbrella company acts as an employer for independent contractors who work under temporary contracts, very often through an employment agency, but also directly with end clients.

S&S Umbrella offers a PAYE umbrella service only. We enter into a flexible employment contract with each contractor, allowing them to move from one temporary assignment to another, with minimal of fuss and administration. We raise invoices based on your time-sheets and send them direct to your agency or client for payment.

We follow up any outstanding or late payments owed to you and ensure your agency or client pay you within the payment terms they agreed with you when they offered you.

We calculate and deduct PAYE Tax, Employee’s National Insurance and pay all deductions direct to HMRC on your behalf.

IR35 is also known as ‘intermediary’s legislation’. It is a set of rules that affect your tax and National Insurance contributions if you are contracted to work for a client through an intermediary. You may need to follow IR35 if you work for a client through an intermediary.

The intermediary can be:

• Your own limited company.
• A service or a personal service company.
• A partnership.

If IR35 applies then the intermediary has to operate PAYE and National Insurance contributions on any salary or wages it pays to you during the tax year.

The rules are designed to make sure that the right rate of tax and National Insurance is paid for you.

IR35 may also apply if you are working through an intermediary and you:

• Or your intermediary, or client are abroad.
• Work in the construction industry.
• Are an office holder.
• Work with your partner or spouse.
• Are working, through an intermediary, for a charitable organisation.

IR35 does not apply if you work for a client through a Managed Service Company (MSC) or agency, for example an employment agency.

Some umbrella schemes still use dividend payment systems and offer IR35 insurance or IR35 friendly contracts. However, contractors in these schemes are still at risk of having to pay back underpaid tax going back some six years.

When you join S&S Umbrella, you become a PAYE employee of our company and pay your Tax and NI contributions through the normal HMRC channels.

S&S Umbrella offer one of the fastest payment cycles within the industry, we process all received funds immediately and transfer them to you within 3 days via BACS. If your agency or client is prepared to issue S&S Umbrella with a remittance advice, we will start processing prior to receiving your funds so that you receive your money on the same day as we receive it!

As a contractor, it can be a bit of a minefield trying to understand what you can and cannot legitimately claim as expenses. For instance, are you allowed to claim for professional subscriptions and textbooks?

The answer is, at S&S Umbrella, we know it is perfectly fine to claim for professional subscriptions and text books, as long as they are required for the purpose of your contract. In addition, we have the knowledge to help you identify all the expenses you’re entitled to claim for.

In addition, unlike some less reputable umbrella companies, we simply don’t believe in encouraging our contractor employees to exploit grey areas in the system because, as we’ve said before, the taxman is none of a fool.

Here’s some of the legitimate and above-board expense claims we’ll happily help you with:

• Mileage.
• Rail, bus, taxi and air travel (subject to your SDC status)
• Daily food and drink (subject to your SDC status)
• Overnight accommodation.
• CRM and employment checking requirements.

Rechargeable expenses or billable expenses are costs you incur on a day-to-day basis while on contract, that have been authorised by your agency or client to be reimbursed by them in full.

Rechargeable expenses are invoiced to your agency or client in the same manner as your worked time, however when funds are received they are processed without Tax and NI being deducted, so paid back to you in full.

Calculating your pay accurately is immensely important to us here at S&S Umbrella. We pride ourselves on supplying a personal service that includes accurate advice around what expenses you can and cannot budget for within your payment structure.

All S&S Umbrella employees are paid via BACS.

All time-sheets received on Monday by 10 AM will be processed and you will receive your payment by Thursday.

Call us free today on 01613541038 or send us a message for more details.

Your payment should be the same, if you were working the same hours each pay period. There are many variables, which could change this such as hours worked, tax details changed by HMRC or payment changes from your agency or client.

When you leave basic PAYE payroll with an agency or full-time employment and go to work on a temporary basis through an Umbrella Company, such as S&S Umbrella, the rate of pay you are offered is generally Increased.

Your standard PAYE rate of pay will usually be uplifted to cover the increased cost for Employers NI contributions this enhanced pay is sometimes referred to as ‘uplifted pay’ or a ‘limited rate.’ The enhancement can also include a proportion for holiday pay.

We do not charge you a fee as such; we actually retain a small fixed amount from the funds received from your agency or client. As we retain this margin at source, you gain tax relief on it, so after deductions, our margin is £10:00* we do not charge any fees for setting up or closing down your account.

We also have a no work, no contribution policy so the weeks you are on holiday or between assignments you do not pay a penny.

*tax relief calculated at basic rate and with a pension, if you are a higher rate taxpayer the relief you receive is even higher.

No. The MSC legislation only affects those workers who are truly self-employed and chose to process their pay via a limited or dividend route.

You must have some form of contract of employment in UK to work legally now and this carries certain responsibilities by the employer.

When you join S&S umbrella you enter into a contract of employment, which fully protects you and your employment rights.

Our contract of employment ensures all your employment rights, insurance and accounts are fully taken care of and your Tax and NI contributions are paid directly to HMRC.

As an employee of S&S Umbrella, you will be entitled to the same statutory benefits as a permanent employee. You will be entitled to SSP, SMP, SPP.

Joining S&S is quick and easy, you can download an application form from the website, fax or email back to us or over the phone in minutes with a member Team on 01613541038. Click here to send us a message.

It is very simple. We collect all the necessary documents to ensure you are fully set-up in our system to receive payments which required by law to ensure we verify your details.

Always remember our account opening process is free also, you are free to leave us any time without penalty. We will happily accept your request to terminate your employment with us, the only delays in allowing this would be; if you have a specific notice period within the agency or client contract or have any outstanding funds to be processed.

However, as soon as any notice period is spent and all funds have been processed, we will then be able to close down your account and release your P45 for you to take to your next employer.

You will receive a SMS alert, on the day your payroll is processed. We will securely e-mail your payslip directly to your preferred address on the day of processing.

We will also send a P60 once a year in May to anyone who has had payments processed in that tax year, to ensure you are fully aware of Tax and National Insurance payments to HMRC.

When you join S&S Umbrella, we provide all the required professional insurances you need to work safe and secure.

Our Insurances include:

• £5 million Professional Indemnity.
• £5 million Public & Product Indemnity.
• £10 million Employers Liability.

The enhanced rate of pay your agency or client pays you when working via an Umbrella Company includes your statutory holiday entitlement. We do not hold back any funds from your invoice. All monies are distributed to you each pay period.

We will happily complete your tax return free. If it is a more complicated return, containing multiple income streams, we may charge a small administration fee, ask your Account Manager for more details.

Expenses can be sending via email or fax accompanied with a completed expense form.

If you believe you may be due a tax rebate it will be necessary to contact HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) directly on 0845 366 7856. You will need your NI number and your PAYE reference to hand. Your eligibility for a rebate is dependent on your personal financial situation, which HMRC will discuss with you. Normally tax rebates are issues once a tax year has closed.

However, if you have been on an incorrect tax code, resulting in you paying too much tax in the current year, HMRC may issue a ‘P6 Change of coding notice’ to correct the situation. Once this has been received, your tax will automatically be recalculated when your next payment is made and any over payment will be repaid with your salary.

You will be required to supply one form of photo ID such as a passport, drivers license, national ID card as well as something proving your address for example a recent bank statement or utility bill along with proof of your previous earnings and tax coding via a P45.

For Non-EU nationals there are further requirements that have to be met, please speak to our Team on 01613541038 for further details. Or send us a message!

You can complete and sign STARTER CHECK LIST, which we will send directly to HM Revenue & Customs for them to code manually.