Limited Companies - Directorship and Composite Queries

[smiley82]

Hi Everyone,

I have been reading the boards for a few months now, trying to gather information and knowledge and prepare for my application which I will do towards the end of this year.

I have read many forum topics on this already, but would like to start the conversation again in the hope that more people will reply and make the situation a whole lot clearer. I apologise that this is a long post

My situation is this:

From November 06 to March 07, I was a shareholder in a Composite Company (provided by 1st Contact). I was one of several shareholders, and paid in both salary and dividends. I did not have a business bank account, nor did I create invoices. The payslips I received during this time are electronic, and pretty much rubbish.

I believe this is going to present a problem for me when I eventually apply, and am trying to work out what information I need to request from my accountants (in this case, 1st Contact) for my application.

Before anyone asks, the reason I am not using them to do my application, is because they want to charge me £1200 for the service, PLUS the government fees of £750, which I find utterly ridiculous. Hence I am trying to find an alternative, or hopefully complete, or almost complete the process myself, with a final checkover by an immigration lawyer.

Okay, does anyone have any suggestions on what I need to request and supply for this period. My current understanding is:

Shareholding Certificate
Payslips
Dividends Vouchers
Letter from Accountants stating Salary
Personal Bank Statements showing amounts being paid

Any more ideas??

Secondly:
From April 07 - Current, I have been working under a directorship company (also through 1st Contact) where I am the sole director and sole shareholder. I have a business bank account, and submit Invoices, but still do not receive Payslips.

I believe this situation is alot easier as I am the sole shareholder. Again, I guess I am looking for any suggestions on what I need to request and supply for this period. I believe it is the same as the above, with possibly management accounts by my Accountant??

I have lodged my tax return for last year, but it is not yet been returned, so I'm not sure if I will have that. Either way, it only shows my salary portion, not my Dividends, as I was not a Director of the Composite company. If I get the Tax Return back in time, should I include it to support my salary claims?? Or will it hinder, rather than help?

Apologies for this being so long, but I hope there are some useful responses out there. This was a common setup for this time period (composite swapping to directorship) so I am hoping that there are others in the same boat who can assist me with any feedback or comments from their own situations.

Thanks again,

Kylie

[VictoriaS]

Hi

This is a common situation, but I am afraid that there are extreme complications with your situation. I am hoping that you are going to tell me you were in the UK as an unmarried partner, not a working holidaymaker...or that you will tell me that this all took place in Australia and I have misunderstood....

Regards

Victoria

[smiley82]

Hi Victoria,

No, unfortunately I'm on the Working Holiday Visa, and I'm currently in the UK, not Australia.

Any suggestions??

Kylie

[smiley82]

Anyone else got any advice or assistance?

Thanks,

Kylie

[avjones]

"From April 07 - Current, I have been working under a directorship company (also through 1st Contact) where I am the sole director and sole shareholder."

Surely you aren't allowed to do that on a WHMV?

[goldfish]

smiley82, the charges from 1st contact are high, but so is having to apply several times and not being successful. I had a friend in a similar situation (1st contact composite/limited) and she applied 3 times unsuccessfully, and ended up having to get a lawyer to appeal for her. It would have been cheaper to just use 1st contact inthe first place. Maybe you could find another agency who doesn't charge so much? With your earnings structure, I think your application will be really complex.

[smiley82]

Hi Goldfish,

Thanks for your reply. I thought that was kind of the situation that I had got myself into.....what a mess!

My application is most likely to be quite complex, so perhaps I will start shopping around for a cheaper alternative...although I'm not sure how cooperative 1st Contact will be in handing over the documents to another company.

Any recommendations on alternative Visa Companies anyone?? Particularly one who deals with Company structures would be ideal.

Thanks again for all the constructive replies.

Kylie

[VictoriaS]

1st Contact HAVE to hand over documents if requested.

If you would like assistance with the HSMP, please PM me.

Victoria

[Chriso]

One way of looking at it is that for £1200 consultant charge plus £400 application fee, that is equivalent to 4 attempts of £400 before you have paid the same as for the consultant doing it. I would think that by 4 attempts you should have got it right! At worst case I would think that the most you risk is a rejection on your first application and then you know what you have not met for the next application.

In my case I got it on the first attempt and that was by looking through alot of posts on the forum. My application was before the additional guidance came out and was at a point where there was alot of confusion about which category to apply under for those working as shareholder but not director of a company. In the end I applied under the employee category as this was what other people were doing and was also the only one that would show my personal earnings - which is the what they are ultimately trying to determine. Both independant contractor and self employed categories would only show the amount the company earned and not how much of it was my personal earnings. I supplied:
-P60 (even though it only showed the salary and not dividend) as everyone who did not include it, even if it wasn't relevant was being rejected for simply not supplying it - so put it in regardless.
-Payment summaries which showed the payslip for the salary and the dividend/tax credit voucher, signed and stamped by the company
-Letter from the company detailing shareholding and showing gross salary and dividend for the period claimed
-Bank statements showing weekly net payments (the company name appeared on the bank statement)

After a number of weeks there was no reply and then the additional guidance came out, indicating that it was self employed category that you should apply under. I then obtained a whole heap more information to send in, although as I wasn't director of the company I didn't have access to the company bank account or accounts. I sent in the following additional information:
-Contracts between the company and agency (although these were pretty useless as they were based on an hourly rate and as my hours vary from week to week was not useful in determining the full value of the contract)
-Invoices between the company and agency (this basically providing verification that the breakdown of pay for the salary and dividend related to work that I performed and not from money received by other shareholders of the company)
-Details of the financial arrangements - ie that there was a managing agent

This prompted a call from the Home Office and as it turned out the issue of why it took so long was due to the policy department being unsure how to treat the tax credit on the dividend payments. Apparently under the employee and independant contractor category they weren't permitting the inclusion of the tax credit, and since the information that I initially supplied was not really enough to assess it under self employed, they weren't quite sure what to do with my application.

Anyway the end result was that I received the approval letter 3 days later.
So my advice would be to obtain as much of the documentation as you can for self employed, if you can't get the company accounts and bank statement for the part up to March 07 then I would supply all that you listed plus the contracts and invoices between the umbrella/composite company and your agency/client (first contact should provide them for you) and also include the P60, but note that it doesn't cover the period claimed and only shows the salary portion. The tax return that you have submitted will most likely not be accepted anyway as they don't accept self assessment as it is "not independent" in their words (hence a letter from an accountant is required).

And goodluck with your application.