I am exactly one of those people. Decided to go limited entirely for tax purposes. Modest takings (around £24k per year), so I’m not a big deal.valvesRus wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 7:49 pmThe old adage of "you reap what you sow" comes to mind.karatestu wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 7:43 pm
Limited companies with one director who are the only employee could really be in the shit now. They usually pay themselves a salary up to the NI threshold so they don't have to pay NI . The rest of their income comes from dividends. They are not classed as self employed (just tax dodgers) so don't benefit from the 80% rule. If they furlough themselves then they get 80% of their employee earnings which they have deliberately minimised to under the NI threshold, which is £183 for this tax year. 80% of that is £146.40 which is not a lot to live on if you don't have any put by for a rainy day, many don't. More than Universal Credit though.
It's very hard to feel sorry for those people.
And, I agree with you completely. You make your choices and take the consequences that flow from those choices. I feel discomfort when anyone feels sympathy for my business. I love the freedom and the responsibility that comes with running one’s own business. Wouldn’t want it any other way.
I think the furlough scheme was established for pragmatic reasons rather than sympathy. Without it more people would have carried on leaving home to work (bad for NHS), more people would be unemployed (bad for economy) and more businesses would be going under (bad for economy). I think it’s a consequential issue, not a moral one.
I can access the scheme in exactly the way described above. It’s not a lot, but will help to keep things going so I can still be there when things kick off again. (I work in primary schools so can’t do business atm.)
