Working as a Carer for my Parents and Getting Paid by Them for it

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Hi – I wonder if you can help.

My parents are in their 80s and health and abilities have really dropped recently.

My sister is considering becoming their full time carer and my parents would like to pay her a salary to do this.

What’s the simplest way to do this and be sure that she is in line with paying taxes to HMRC?

I think, to keep it simple, they won’t be her “employer” as that brings into play all sorts of complexity with HMRC anf PAYE etc.

I am sure many children are caring for their parents like this, would love to have some help.

Thanks

Will Jarvis

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The easiest way around this would be for your sister to be self employed as a freelance carer.

This way she can ensure that she is complying with HMRC rules on NI class 1 and Tax.

If she hires an accountant, they will be able to help her with filing her accounts, assessing her VAT and ensure that she is complying with the appropriate regulations.

She would need to register herself with HMRC as self employed, gain a UTR (Unique Taxpayer Reference) and register for corporation tax etc. I hope this helps.

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There are special arrangements for family carers. See the Office for public Guardian website.

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Thanks, I’ll look into this with her

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Hi @bowlingbun

Please take a look carefully at the information you have provided. As per the document you have provided, these arrangements can only take place if the person lacks the mental capacity. The office of the public guardian is an entity who deals with issues pertaining to Power of Attorney.

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I am well aware of the information shared, which relates to family members caring for loved ones. I was “signposting” to help people look at information I felt was worthy of further investigation and might be relevant. I have seen other articles sharing similar information, not relating to people who have lost mental capacity. I share things I have come across when caring for my family members (10 in total!) but we never know someone else’s whole story. Our CUK helpline has highly trained advisors but they are very busy. Forum members can always ask them, or a local advisor, “does this apply to me?”.
PS I studied Employment Law as part of my Business degree long ago, and I’ve also dealt with Direct Payments for my son. The opportunity to opt out of various requirements under certain circumstances seemed too good to miss IF applicable!

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