Re: Long overdue
Everyone pays VAT on goods that attract VAT, if your a business that is obliged to charge VAT on your services, your customer pays the VAT & you pass it on to HMRC minus a small percentage.
How are you paying extra when its your customers paying and your earning from it at the same time?
If London is too expensive to work in as a permie how come so many permies work & live successfully in London without being contractors. The trains and tubes are not full of contractors commuting to work, they are full of permanent staff commuting from within or London or her suburbs or further afield. many choose not to live in London for many reasons other than they can't afford the rent. So called cheaper areas are not cheap compared to the North but they have other desirable qualities compared to living in London. I know many people who moved to the coast just because they like to be by the sea. Brighton to Central London is not that long to commute by train.
Lastly i know many contractors that are also landlords as its a good investment on the oodles of cash they've earned and paid less tax on than a permie. Not all landlords are bad, if they where no one would rent. Rent has been higher than a mortgage since at least the late 1990's. Some may not have a deposit big enough to buy or have been put off buying by stories in the press or the ever present danger of a recession and the fear of negative equity. In my opinion its misguided. Buy as soon as possible and lock in the value, after all renting is just paying some contractors mortgage and feeding their retirement plan.
If your contract pay is so low that you would struggle to live around & work in London maybe look to re-skill in something more lucrative?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
