Choosing the right path for you
Crystal has a pedigree in providing contractors, consultants and freelancers flexible and compliant employment strategies. From setting up and running your own limited company to the hassle free world of joining an umbrella company or even helping you with an international umbrella company option.
Using our knowledge, scope and experience we will make a clear path for your contracting experience. Whether you choose an umbrella company, a PSC (Personal Service Company or Limited Company) or an alternative to maximise your income, we will make your choice crystal clear.
Not all Umbrella Companies are created equal.
An umbrella company is a company that employs agency contractors who work on temporary contract assignments, usually through a recruitment agency in the United Kingdom. Recruitment agencies prefer to issue contracts to a limited company as the agency liability would be reduced. It issues invoices to the recruitment agency (or client) and, when payment of the invoice is made, will typically pay the contractor through PAYE with the added benefit of offsetting some of the income through claiming expenses such as travel, meals, and accommodation*. – Wikipedia
If you use a standard PAYE Umbrella Company, you would become an employee with all employee rights of that company. The umbrella company would invoice the agreed rate (this is not your pay), deduct an administration contribution, Employers National insurance and the apprenticeship levy. The umbrella company would then pay you via PAYE on the remaining amount deducting the correct tax and employees national insurance, along with any pension contributions.
If the Umbrella company offers expenses (*Subject to SDC) they will do this in one of 2 ways, by helping you complete a P87 (Claim Income Tax relief for your employment expenses) at the end of the year or by agreeing an amount of claimable expenses with your umbrella company at the beginning of your contract.
Some umbrella companies have other options for managing a contract. They insist they are fully compliant with HMRC and avoid the pitfalls of IR35 but we would suggest avoiding EBT’s, offshore and loan schemes.
Making the decision to work abroad can be a difficult one, however, some Umbrella companies offer an International arm. The solutions will be wide ranging and differ from country to country.
Choosing the right path for you
Crystal Umbrella has pedigree in providing contractors, consultants and freelancers with a hassle-free, compliant and profitable alternative to setting up and running your own limited company. Using Crystal Umbrella involves considerably less paperwork and general admin that either running your own limited company or working through many alternative umbrella companies due to our cutting edge web portal “My Crystal”.
Why Crystal Umbrella?
Here at Crystal Umbrella contracting life is kept simple and hassle free so you can spend your time and effort elsewhere. Submit your timesheets and expenses via our web portal “My Crystal” and leave the rest to your dedicated account manager. It really is that easy.
Our extensive list of benefits speaks for itself:
- £20 Million of inclusive insurances
- Full statutory employment rights
- Payments processed on remittance
- Dedicated account manager
- My Crystal Web Portal
- Pension & Holiday pay
We made them happy
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It’s a minefield out there with so many different umbrella companies or umbrella type companies, this is the first site that actually helped me decide which one I needed. It turns out, I set up my own limited company, I use an app to send my invoices and collect expenses, I have complete control over all my money and my accountant does the rest. Perfect! Thank you Crystal Choice.
IT Consultant
