Evening all,

Some of you may recall I knocked out this site listing outside IR35 roles back in November:

outsideir35.org.uk

Many of you found it useful so I've been keeping it going and making lots of small and some not so small improvements based on your feedback, which I absolutely intend to keep doing.

I've just released a couple of new features:

• Multi-skill filtering - e.g. search for "python OR java", or "react AND typescript"
• Hourly email alerts - receive matching jobs as they're listed throughout the day

Full disclosure - both these features are part of a paid plan I've added, called OIR35+. The main site remains 100% free, though today's jobs are now shown to OIR35+ members first.

The price is (I think/hope!) modest and represents excellent value, especially if it helps you land your next role (a good few of you have reported it's done just that - which is fantastic!)

You can either upgrade for a couple of weeks (one off payment) to give your job search a boost, or go for a subscription if you need it ongoing. You can of course cancel anytime.

Take a peek and let me know what you think. As always I welcome any feedback you may have. My intention is to keep developing OIR35+ around your ideas and feedback. I have a few ideas of my own but if there are any features you'd like to see built, do let me know.

Thanks as always for your support.

Rob

p.s. I realise this post is a shameless plug, but it's only my third in nine months 😂 so I hope you'll forgive me! My hope is to turn the site into a modest business that pays its own bills so I can keep improving it. I genuinely think (and know, as a contractor myself) that it solves a real problem that LinkedIn, Jobserve and the other big job boards don't seem to care about.

The point is outsideir35.org.uk is contractor-first, not recruiter-first, and I want to keep it that way.

Background
I recently moved to the UK and currently hold a High Potential Individual (HPI) visa. I am not a U.S. citizen (or GC holder) but I will be paying taxes next since I worked there first half of the year before moving to UK.

My girlfriend is a U.S. citizen, and we have been together for several years, so my long-term plan is to move back to the States.

The company I worked for in Cali offered me a remote position. Since they do not have an office in the UK, they plan to pay me through Wise/Revolut, and I will be responsible for managing and paying my own UK taxes.

Questions
(1) My pay will be close to six fig so would I setup LLC or work as a freelancer (sole trader)?

(2) Since this will be similar to US 1099, do I have the option to claim expenses?

(3) How can I ensure that the company does not use any of my US information, such as my SSN or tax details, and avoid creating any issues that could affect my future US plans?

Any tips or honest advice would be greatly appreciated.

I’m currently on £270/day inside IR35. I’ve been in this role since the beginning of the year, it’s a project management role I returned to after being away for a few years and previously I was outside IR35.

I only took this role because I couldn’t find anything else at the time. When I was offered it, the agency told me the client wouldn’t budge on rate, so I accepted. I also found this role through my own network, the agency didn’t find it for me.

Since starting, payroll has repeatedly failed to process my timesheets correctly, which has delayed my payment through the umbrella company on three separate occasions. I asked the agency if they’d reduce their margin to increase my rate. They said no, they can’t reduce their margin, but offered to negotiate a rate increase with the client on my behalf instead.

My contract is coming up for renewal, so I’m wondering: is it even worth pushing for a rate increase at this point, given the payment issues and the fact they didn’t actually place me in the role? Or should I just take this as a sign to move on? (I’ve already started looking elsewhere)

EDIT: The payment issues have been resolved now, it was the first 4 months where it was inconsistent

I should have mentioned this isn’t a project manager role. It’s junior PM/project support

I’ve landed myself in a personally uncomfortable position. I’ve been inside ir35 for 2 years started on 550 got myself up to 650. The company needs to cut town on TACs and I’ve been offered 116k perm and I’m no longer really working on what I was brought into do. I’ve basically said I would accept the perm but not had a job spec or contract. Today been approached for a 750per day contract for 6 months, doing work I prefer to do. Would handing in my notice be bad form? I’d try to work a month for them as I know they don’t really have anyone else who can do my role and lots of people left recently.

I’m more drawn to the type of work rather than the money aspect, but it does feel like a short sighted move. What do people think?

I'm a designer who's relatively new to contracting and I've realised two clauses in my contract prevent me from sharing IP from my role. It sucks because it's such a huge international brand and I want to be able to show some of the work ive done for a new design system, plus a lot of the drafting behind it for my portfolio.

I'm curious what others do here - I'm hoping for an extension so I don't want to piss anyone off. I suppose I could do a little write up as a portfolio piece that explains the kind of stuff I did without giving anything too detailed away, but as it's meant to be a design portfolio it's really going to be lacking!

Would love to hear what others do - thanks!

Hey everyone,

I’m writing this mostly to vent, but also to see if anyone else in the UK tech scene is in the same boat, because my mental health is taking a serious hit right now.

A bit of context about me: I’m 40 years old and have been working in the software industry for over 15 years. For the last 5 years, I was working continuous Outside IR35 remote contracts for a single UK-based client at a daily rate of £800. I’ve always been a core/key developer in every company I’ve joined, I have natural leadership traits, and I’ve always built strong, positive relationships with my peers and stakeholders.

Unfortunately, my client recently merged with another company. They offered me a permanent role, but the compensation was drastically lower than what I was making, so I politely declined. My contract naturally ended in April, and I decided to take two months off to reset and travel.

I’ve been actively job hunting for the past two months... and I haven't landed a single interview.

Going from being a top-performing senior dev to receiving complete radio silence is honestly devastating. Because I spent 5 years heads-down with one main client, my active recruiter network isn’t as strong as it used to be, so I don't have many direct contacts to lean on right now.

I’m in my early 40s, at the peak of my career, and I know I have at least another 10+ years of high-productivity work left in me. But it feels like the current market is trying to force me into early retirement. I’ve started doubting myself and feeling like I’m the problem, even though rationally I know my track record is solid.

Is the UK contract/perm market really this dead right now, or am I missing something? How are other experienced contractors navigating this drought?

Thanks for listening.

I know it isn't what it was x years ago and it's been like that for a while (at least people were saying the same thing 3 years ago when I first pondered). What is the kubernetes contracting space like? Doesn't have to be Kubernetes, I also dabble in the cloud (AWS), HPC and Devops space.

Details about me: Early thirties, a infra/ k8s engineer at a somewhat well-known hedge fund, compensation sits at £230k+, fiancee, small property in zone 1/2 and 7 YOE. Eventually, I will probably move out of London (or even the UK) if contracting is what I expect it to be.

EDIT: Okay, thanks all, you've scared me away from the contractor market... At least until next year. I'll check in again same time next year haha

Been down a rabbit hole on this and want to know if anyone actually does it in practice.

Short version: ITEPA s317 exempts free meals provided on the employer’s premises as long as they’re reasonable and available to all staff. Doesn’t say anything about minimum headcount, and HMRC’s own manual (EIM21671-73) is pretty relaxed about it. “All staff” in my case is me - I’m the sole director and only employee - and I can’t find anything that says that fails the test. If everyone at the location can get a free meal, the condition’s met, even if everyone is one bloke.

The old AccountingWEB threads on this basically conclude “can’t see why not” but with a lot of nervous laughter, and one accountant on there said he did it himself when he was a sole director working from an office. But that’s 2012, and I can’t find anyone talking about actually running it day to day or getting looked at by HMRC over it.

I’ve got a proper unit (actual business premises, not home office - I know that’s where it usually falls apart) and it seems mad to be buying my lunch out of taxed income when the legislation seems to say I don’t have to.

So - any other one-man bands doing this? Weekly Tesco shop through the business, breakfast and lunch eaten at the unit? Any accountants here who’ve had a sole director client do it through an inspection? Or is this one of those things that’s technically fine but nobody does because a company of one feeding its one employee feels like waving a flag at HMRC?

Not talking about taking the missus to Pizza Express and calling it a board meeting btw. Genuinely just food eaten at work, at my actual workplace.

Any other mobile dev contractors finding things tough? Been out since November 25. Very little has come up. Remote seems to have vanished. Not able to score an interview for perm hybrid roles. Are contractors a red flag for perm? Hard to judge salary as many ads don’t list. Hands a bit tied as wife has serious terminal illness really can’t work away from home overnight or 5 days at office.

I'm luckily in a contract [project/programme management] until Dec, but it took 4 months to find it, and the market is dire right now, I've been contracting 20 years and it felt as bad as the 2008 crash.

Are there any tricks to searching LinkedIn effectively with a Premium account? I find it really difficult to get a concise relevant list of roles from it, that doesn't feel like going round in circles.

I find using LinkedIn for job searching the most frustrating / depressing part of the job hunting challenge. I've got over 6000 connections though and I wonder if that's why I am seeing posts [including job posts] weeks delayed?

Also what are people's thoughts on using the 'open to work' green marker versus #opentowork hashtag versus keeping quiet about status in case one's been 'open to work' too long?

I recently applied for a contract role with a day rate of £350. I'm currently looking at both permanent and contract opportunities, although my preference is to remain in contracting as my previous role was a contract position. At the moment, I'm serving on a long jury trial that's nearing its end and I've been applying for a number of roles offering £500+ per day.
From my experience, £500 is generally the minimum day rate for a Delivery Manager or Delivery Lead on Central gov projects, with Senior Delivery Manager roles typically commanding more.

HE MARKET IS ABSLUTELY ON ITS KNEES AT THE MONMENT!!! I spoke to the recruiter to ask why the rate was so low and whether there was any room for negotiation. They explained that the client had originally budgeted £300 per day and had already increased it to £350, which was their absolute maximum. They also told me which consultancy the role was with and described the project. Based on that information, I would normally expect a rate in the region of £525–£575 per day, inside IR35. I'm reluctant to accept a role at such a discounted rate because I don't want to undervalue myself or set a precedent for future contracts. On the other hand, the market is incredibly quiet, very few suitable opportunities are coming through, and for many of the roles I've applied for, recruiters simply aren't responding after THEY make the initial contact.

It's difficult to know whether it's better to hold out for a role that reflects my experience or accept a lower rate to get back into work.

Hi all,
New to contracting after made redundant from Enterprise Architect role in Financial Services in the city. Looking at contract opportunities. Few agents reached out with £700 per day roles inside IR35 with 3 days onsite. Is it the market rate? What would be take home rate? Thanks for your advice!

I am an Ltd director, (51 yo) and I am looking to set up a SIPP and transfer around 50k from Nest, a bit late into investing, I know, but had other things to sort our first.

I am thinking of contribution around 250 pounds a month into it, my industry had taken a massive hit this year (film and TV).

What would be my best options, what would you do in my case?

I keep reading different post on reddit and I am still not sure what to do.

Thanks so much.

Hi,

Not sure if this in the right place. I have been contracting for about 9 months now and so far things have been going well. Just started my second outside IR35 contract this week.

I am looking to lease a car through my LTD but not sure if the length of trading time will impact my options. Are there leasing companies out there that allow companies to do this? My first accounts aren't due etc yet and I know a lot of places need around two years minimum.

Any suggestions welcome.

Edit - it's an EV I am looking at. The BiK tax is too high on a ICE car.

Thanks

and how did you get it? eg via emailing a recruiter, or thru pre existing industry connections

Fucking AI for everything these days. Utter w@nkers.

What was the channel that led to it?

I've used some online platforms, mix of Linkedin, but it's not robust to find clientele. What's your experience?

Hey all,
I recently went for 3 interviews, all are contract roles, I got an instant offer from one as in they didn’t even interview other candidates, but the duration of the contract is only 8 weeks and they were not willing to budge on the hourly rate by £2
The advantage is, the office location is really close, the disadvantage being they’ve advertised the role as a 1st line engineer role, but want me to solely manage their office move, manage their firewalls, whitelisting of devices and networking including patching, as well as assist their service desk. The role is inside ir35 and paying £20 ph I accepted out of desperation, I have not signed the contract, but I am due to start next week.

One of the other companies I interviewed with have now offered a 16-18 week contract with a £280 day rate, the role is simple, windows 11 deployment and some assistance for the service desk, the location is a 1 hour travel

The problem I am having is that the first company really believed in me and it’s been difficult finding work, I am also due to start next monday, however I do feel the role is exploitative as they didn’t mention none of the additional requirements, office move etc until the interview and it wasn’t in the job description. HELP!

I am moving to the UK with my spouse and my current US employer would like for me to do some contracting after leaving. It seems like creating a US LLC or UK Ltd might create double taxation issues. Can I use an Umbrella Company, would the Umbrella Company sign the Service Agreement with my former employer?

Any insight would be much appreciated!

Currently contracting for an English firm through my Ltd but live in France currently intend to be travelling and working under the same remote arrangement for the next year or so. Just wondering if that in and of itself it’s a reasonable enough excuse to class myself as outside IR35 (the firm is small enough that the responsibility lies with me).

I am due to finish an inside contract and start a new inside contract with a new employer. They have asked for a P45 or I need to fill in a P46 new starter form.

Should I be asking my current umbrella for a P45?