r/ContractorUK

I got my 1st contract recently with an overseas company and I was super scared of IR35 implications so I got insurance for peace of mind. My IR35 assessment was borderline outside. After joining I met few other UK based contractors working with the same client through their Ltd companies (outside IR35) for years and had no idea about IR35 at all. None of them even had insurance.

One dude even withdraws 90% of his income into partner’s account for smaller tax bracket and he has been doing this for years.

Just makes me wonder how many contractors are working via their Ltd companies without any clue of IR35 and insurance. All of them are sitting ducks for HMRC.

trying to lock down our EOR setup for the UK ahead of next year's contractor renewals.

we're a 60-person Saas with 14 UK contractors we're moving onto inside-IR35 employment to clear our exposure.

we've been running 2 senior hires through Workmotion's UK entity for the past year, the experience has been solid enough that they're on the shortlist for the contractor conversion, but i want to pressure-test against Deel and Remote before we lock in 14 more headcount.

specifically trying to compare per-employee pricing including NI and pension contributions, how each handles the contractor-to-employee transition for someone who has been with us 5+ years, whether their UK entity is treated as a UK Employer of Record or an umbrella structure (because the difference matters for tribunal exposure), and benefits flexibility on private medical and 4-5% pension matching.

anyone running UK headcount through any of these in 2026 willing to share what is working cleanly versus where you've had to work around the platform?

I use the word “complaint” broadly, no one has formally complained about me but there is some weirdness occurring.

I work as a data scientist consultant in a really poor/low maturity team. They use Jira. There’s aspects of my work which I can’t complete without input from a (perm) MI team who store the data. So the person I report into, assigned Jira tickets to the MI team.

In tandem to this, I invited some of the MI team to meetings that interlinks with those Jira tickets for their awareness. Plus, the people I report to chase for daily updates on the Jira tickets as the MI team are a bottleneck.

Today I was “pulled up” by the MI team manager in front of the person I report into, to say someone on the team feels they are at maximum capacity, there’s tickets on Jira, plus they were invited to meetings they felt they had no input in, and can any further communication go through the manager essentially.

It feels off because I don’t feel I have don’t anything wrong, any pressure comes from the people I report to especially in regard to Jira - but it seems like I am being made to be the issue here. I did say, with the meeting invite they were free to decline and the invite asked them to forward to someone more appropriate if needed.

Can't believe this...

20 years contracting. 3 companies. 3 accountants and not one of them advised me that my arbitrary dividend taking where most years I take nothing but the wife takes between 10 and 20k is actually wrong!

Apparently, because we have ordinary shares and are 50/50 in the company, I MUST take the same dividend as her.

Anyone find themselves in the same situation in the past? I don't know how to face this.

I’ve just been offered a renewal, but the rate is exactly the same as it was two years ago. With the cost of living where it is in 2026, it honestly feels like a pay cut in real terms. Do most of you push hard for an increase during renewals, or is it smarter right now to keep the peace and avoid ending up back on the bench for months? Interested to hear how others are handling this market.

I am thinking about setting up salary sacrifice on my inside ir35 contract.

If i choose interactive investor or Hargreaves landsdown (both supported by paystream)

Do the funds go directly to my SIPP cash balance each month, so i can choose to buy the stocks i want via the web application? If not, how do they work?

I've looked at several calculators all giving different results.

I'm finding it difficult to work out if it's worth leaving my role for roles paying 450-500 inside IR35. I have a savings safety net but want to understand the salary trade off.

Would anyone mind giving a rough figure of their monthly take-home pay? Appreciate pension contributions etc will affect the figures

been contracting for a few years now and my accountant has been nudging me to sort out my mtd setup properly before it becomes a problem. i'm on sage at the moment and while it does the job i'm not convinced i need everything it offers for what is essentially just me managing invoices, expenses and quarterly vat submissions.

the way i see it i have two options. either switch to something built for mtd properly from the ground up or just use bridging software to connect what i already have to hmrc without rebuilding the whole setup. the bridging route appeals because it means less disruption but i'm not sure if that's actually the smarter long term call or just the easier short term one.

has anyone here gone through this decision as a contractor and landed on an approach they're happy with? specifically interested in whether bridging held up well enough that switching wasn't worth the hassle.

Roles are taking longer to fill. Rates that were being offered without question a couple of years ago are now being negotiated down or the role just sits there. Clients who would have moved quickly are taking weeks to make decisions. And the number of contractors I know who have had gaps they did not expect is noticeably higher than it was. Is this a sector specific thing or are people across different specialisms seeing the same pattern and does anyone have a sense of whether it is temporary or structural.

For me it seems JobServe isn’t offering much in terms of recruiters responding to my CV (Architect 20+ years experience) are the listings on JobServe junk? or has the ‘trend’ moved to posting contract work on another job board(s)? Despite being told the ‘Market is picking up’ the response or lack of would suggest otherwise. From my point of view, It seems quietest it’s ever been in the last 2-3 years.

Evening all,

I posted this on here few months ago and don't want to plug it too often! But it's a free site I built which allows you to filter outside IR35 roles from LinkedIn by skill, day rate, remote etc:

https://outsideir35.org.uk

Could come in handy if/when you're on the look out for a new role!

Also keen to hear if anyone has any suggestions for improving it - new tools/features etc.

Cheers,

Rob

I’m an India-based backend/AI engineer (8+ years) currently contracting for a UK fintech alongside running my own company. Looking for honest input from this community on a few things, since most overseas-contractor content online is generic LinkedIn fluff.

A bit of context on me before the questions - I run mostly Java/Spring Boot, Node.js, Python/FastAPI, with deep PostgreSQL, Kafka, and Kubernetes experience. Currently building AI products (multi-model LLM routing, RAG, real-time streaming). My current UK rate sits around £300-400/day standard. Direct contracts, not via agency.

Things I’d genuinely value perspective on:

1. Rate benchmarking for overseas contractors - am I underselling? UK contractors I’ve talked to seem to quote significantly higher day rates, but I’m aware location-based pricing is contested. How do you think about this when working with UK SMEs vs enterprise?
2. Outside-IR35 structures - most of my engagements have been direct B2B (my India entity to the UK client). Anyone here worked both sides of this and seen meaningful differences in how clients approach overseas vs UK-resident contractors?
3. Finding outside-IR35 work specifically - agencies seem to mostly route inside-IR35 stuff. Where are people sourcing genuinely outside-IR35 contracts in 2026? Direct networks? Specific platforms? I tried LinkedIn but to no positive avail.
4. AI/LLM contract market in the UK - feels like there’s a gap between “we want AI” demand and engineers who’ve actually shipped production LLM systems (not just demos). Curious if others are seeing the same and what rates that work commands.

Happy to share more about what’s worked/not worked from my side.

I’m on an outside ir35 engagement, have a look at this chat with my project manager.

Me - Hi there, is it okay if you can approve my timesheet.
PM- sure thing on it no.
Me- thanks
PM- it’s coming up as 5 basic days but I thought you took some time out last week
Me- no, all 5 days
PM- Did you not have some private appointments?
Me- yes I had dentist on Thursday for a couple hours and put that time in during the evening
PM- Just in terms of ways of working. If for any reason you want your hours to work anything other than 8-5 please do ask in advance and I’ll advise. This is a good example.

I haven’t replied, but if I did, it would be something along the lines of “may I remind you this is an outside IR35 engagement where delivereables are based on a project outcome to which I can choose to get the work done” but I don’t want to reply that as it probably won’t be good for relationship.

For context I mentioned in our morning meeting I’ll be at dentist and he replies “yea no problem”

To me this is a red flag. Day rate contracting outside ir35 started with these guys about a month ago.

What do you think? Is my stance fair? I think I’ve been very reasonable.

Not long started my first inside ir35 contract- thru umbrella company, doing salary sacrifice into my sipp. Have been doing outside gigs for 20 years, thru limited company, vat registered, Quickbooks for book keeping and full accountant engagement including payroll. This current contract has potential for long term, so looking at scaling back cost & complexity on Ltd co.

Can anyone recommend setup if you’ve been in similar situation? (Thinking of de registering for Vat, dropping quick books for cheaper or free solution & dropping current accountant for something more light touch)

First post so please forgive any ignorance on the rules. Recently started up my own Ltd company in the UK working as a contractor for a US firm (they have no UK subsidiary). Will be paid a daily rate monthly but also working for other clients in UK very occasionally. Just wondering if there is anything I can do to avoid being inside IR35 and am I doing the right thing etc?

I've been offered a renewal inside ir35 from my current outside position. From what I can tell, with a slight uplift in pay and max salary sacrifice I can neutralise the impact on my take home. So long as the calculator is transparent and accurate. Can anyone vouch for it before I make this change please??

I’m a QA Engineering Manager (6 years in my current role, 15+ years total experience) and my company was recently acquired. My UK employment is being terminated, and the new US-based owner (Delaware) wants to rehire me as a "consultant" as they have no UK entity.

​I’ve never been a long-term contractor before and have a few questions for the seasoned pros here:

​IR35 Status: As if essentially be an employee in all but name. I assume it's inside IR35?

​Day Rate Calculation: My previous salary was £60k. I’m the sole QA on the platform, so I’m thinking £500/day as a floor.. does this seem reasonable for a Lead/Manager QA role in the current market?

​The "Sham Redundancy" Risk: If I receive redundancy pay from the old UK entity and start as a contractor for the new US owner the next day doing the same job, are there any tax pitfalls I should be aware of?

​Any advice on setting up the Ltd company (if needed), getting a contract review (Qdos/IPSE), or negotiating with a US buyer who doesn't understand UK tax law would be amazing.

For the past 6 months I’ve been working as an associate for a consultancy. The consultancy has a mixed engagement team of 15+ permanent employees and contractors delivering full time. We are providing project management, change and PMO support on an AI transformation programme for a FTSE 100 company.

My current situation:
- I am a Project Manager and my day rate is £575
- The consulting firms margin is 47% (based on my individual circumstances)

The client has given very strong feedback on my work and the consulting firm is in the process of negotiating a 6 month extension for the entire team. They have asked me to stay on if the extension goes through. During the engagement I’ve taken on more responsibility and embedded well into the programme.

I’m considering asking for an increase to £650 p/d for the extension (+£75/day). That would still leave the consultancy on a 40% margin assuming the client is charged the same rate for my services.

My rationale:
- As I’m an associate contractor and the consulting firm can stop paying me when the contract ends - a 40% margin seems reasonable
- Replacing me would be an inconvenience and create delivery risk for them
- AI transformation work seems to be commanding strong rates currently

What I’d like advice on:

1. Is a £75 p/d increase reasonable or should I just be happy with what I’m making currently?
2. How would you position the negotiation with the consultancy?
3. Should I explicitly reference that I’ve seen the rate card and understand the margins or avoid mentioning this during negotiations?

For more context, this is my first project as a contractor following 7 years working for various management consultancies in London. I’m really enjoying the project, its low stress and very reasonable working hours. So I don’t want to upset the consultancy or jeopardise being kept on.

Any words of advice or nuggets of wisdom would be much appreciated, thanks!