One trusted partner, whatever the contract

It depends on your contract, sector, employment status and where you’ll be working.

As a general guide:

• Umbrella PAYE – if you want your employment, payroll, pension contributions, tax and National Insurance handled for you.
• CIS – if you’re an eligible self-employed subcontractor working in construction.
• PEO – if your assignment uses a PAYE employment model where Sapphire takes care of the employment and payroll responsibilities.
• Limited company – if you operate through your own company and need specialist accounting and tax support.
• Global contracting – if you’re taking an assignment overseas and need support with local employment, tax and payment requirements.
• Prizm – if you’re a sole trader or landlord making over £50,000 a year, and need support managing your Making Tax Digital obligations.

If you’re unsure, speak to our team and we’ll help you understand the options available for your assignment.

With Umbrella PAYE, Sapphire employs you and processes your earnings through PAYE, deducting Income Tax and National Insurance before you’re paid.

CIS is designed for eligible self-employed subcontractors working within the construction industry. A flat rate of tax is deducted from your payments under the Construction Industry Scheme rather than through standard PAYE.

Which route is appropriate depends on your work and employment status, so it’s important to use the right model rather than simply choosing how you would prefer to be paid.

It depends on your circumstances and the contract.

Umbrella PAYE is designed to keep things simple: Sapphire employs you and takes care of payroll, tax and National Insurance.

If you’re outside IR35, operating through a limited company gives you greater responsibility for your business, including its accounts, tax and statutory obligations. Sapphire’s specialist contractor accountants can support you with those responsibilities and help you understand what’s required.

IR35 (aka, the Intermediaries Legislation, or ‘off-payroll working’) is UK tax legislation that determines whether you’re working as a genuinely self-employed contractor or as a “disguised employee” for tax purposes. It looks at your actual working practices, not just your contract, checking things like how much control your client has over your work, whether you can send a substitute in your place and how integrated you are into the business.

Anyone contracted by public sector organisations or medium and large private businesses could fall under IR35 – those contracted by small businesses are not considered in its scope.

If your contract falls inside IR35, you’ll pay tax and National Insurance similar to an employee, even though you don’t get employee benefits. If it falls outside IR35, you can pay yourself through a mix of salary and dividends, which is usually more tax-efficient. Getting your IR35 status right matters: it affects your take-home pay and your compliance risk, so it’s worth understanding where you stand before you take on a new contract.

Yes. Sapphire supports contractors working across more than 150 countries.

International contracts can create additional requirements around employment status, local tax, payroll and compliance. We help establish the appropriate arrangement for where you’ll be working and manage the administration behind it.

You don’t necessarily need to find a new provider.

Sapphire supports umbrella, CIS, limited company and international contracting, so as your assignments change, we can help you move to the appropriate setup while keeping your support within Sapphire.

Tell us about your contract, where you’ll be working and how you’re currently set up. We’ll help you understand the appropriate route and what you need to do next.