Starting yet another new job next week, off to help out one of my old bosses who's bitten off more than he can chew and needs a right hand man, but talking to him yesterday he explained that the guy who owns the company, pays cash in hand so nothing goes through the books, my old boss has gone self employed to get around this.

But what should i do? take cash in hand, demand to go throught the books?(which i doubt he'd do as nobody else is),  go self employed?

what are the drawbacks of cash in hand? not paying tax, student loan or NI payments would be a bonus. 

starting to wish i hadn't handed my notice in at my current job as it sounds like i was getting a big promotion later in the year, but there no challenge there, where as this new place is in a state and the plans for the future look impressive, so i can play my part in creating something rather than just maintaing the status quo. 

Luke. (wannabe whippet) wrote (see)

 not paying tax, student loan or NI payments would be a bonus. 

Cash in hand? er no..... maybe a one off like a days work for a mate, but certainly not as a "proper" job

The things is, that as well as the associated risk re not paying tax (i.e. prison!) , the guy could fire you without a moments notice and you'd have no leg to stand on.

pension, NI, Tax.

If you are going to do it then you need to go self employed and then declare it all, which means the wages should be highier to cover you for all the payments you will need to make, plus you will need to have an accountant, who will save you more money then you would otherwise save doing it yourself.

its a murky world

Plus if you're not signing a contract there's no garuntee of income for any length of time.  You can be fired there and then on the spot with not a leg to stand on.

Cash in hand can get you a spell in the slammer, not to forget a huge fine if you're caught.

Also, you'd have to be careful who you talk to, in case someone calls Inland Revenue and rats on you....