Employers won't pay tax, can I sort it myself?

T

taz

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Started as a plumber (9 years exp) with employer on a months trial, getting paid half cq(made out to cash) and half cash. Months trial up now and asked him to sort my tax out and he says he wont. Can I sort this out myself as I am considering starting my own buisness in the next 6 months. Any halp appreciated, really clueless in the area of tax......

Thanks very much
 
Re: Employers wont pay tax, can I sort it myself?

taz said:
Started as a plumber (9 years exp) with employer on a months trial, getting paid half cq(made out to cash) and half cash. Months trial up now and asked him to sort my tax out and he says he wont. Can I sort this out myself as I am considering starting my own buisness in the next 6 months. Any halp appreciated, really clueless in the area of tax......

Thanks very much
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If you are genuinely an employee and not a self employed contractor there is not much you can do to sort it out yourself other than reporting him to the Revenue for not complying with the tax laws. Hold aside a percentage of what he pays you as you will likely have to pay the tax eventually (what percentage depends a lot on your personal circumstances and other earnings so its hard to be exact).

If you are a self employed contractor then it will be your own responsibilty to file returns and pay the tax when due. There are many threads here on sole traders and the tax returns they need to make which you could search for. Some professional advice would also be advisable.

Even if self employed though, as a plumber, I would have thought the Relevant Contracts Tax might apply, therefore the main contractor would have to withhold a certain amount of tax unless you had a C2 from the Revenue.
 
Leave this guy asap and have nothing further to do with him.

If you end up with a blemish on your tax record as a result of being involved with this guy (even by 'guilt by association') you will find it very difficult to establish yourself properly with the Revenue for Relevant Contracts Tax etc if you ever want to set up your own plumbing business.

If he is happy to shortchange the taxman so blatantly it is only a matter of time before he does the same to you
 
You haven't said whether you intend staying on after the trial but if thats his attitude to tax you should get out of there asap!! Did you get any form of contract from him, either as an employee or a subcontractor? If you have an employment contract or letter of offer then you could report him to revenue for not accounting for your PAYE/PRSI correctly. If there is no contract he's likely to say you're a self-employed subcontractor and you deal with your own taxes. If that is the case it's not a problem for you, you would simply account for the income received on your tax return for the current tax year (Jan-Dec 06) which is due for filing prior to 31 October 2007. If you're going to be self employed later in the year you will have to register with the Revenue and file a tax return anyway so it will just be a case of including this income.

If you're continuing to work for this guy you need to find out very quickly whether you are an employee or a subcontractor, not just from a tax point of view but also in relation to other employee rights such as holiday pay, sick pay etc.
 
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