This does raise a few points! I can see both sides having spent 13 years as an employee interspersed with being self-employed out of my total of 46 years working.
My understanding is:
I'd say most business use an accountant to minimise their tax bill by claiming for office items including the new phone monthly rental, new lap top etc yet alone other things as transport costs including the new van, all of which are not available to the employed.
I suspect also that quite a few jobs that are paid in cash, are not always declared in full.
Purchase of tools and equipment also tends to be a call made on reducing taxable income when there is a profit to be reduced.
The consequence I see is that the tax paid averaged over the last three years will be lower and subsequently, any "Government" pay given out in June will be considerably less than the living standards some have got used to............... One "perk" is that they can still continue earning whereas to qualify for the employee 80%, they must be furloughed.
Secondly, those small or sole traders fronted with a Ltd company are employees, so does the Ltd company have to pay themselves as per the 80% scheme in place for employees? The directors of those companies are not self employed, they also take dividends to reduce tax, so have they excluded themselves from yesterday's announcement? Yet alone to be furloughed, they must not do any work at all for their employer, ie their own business?
Regards
BOD
