HighandTight
In another life I was a Chartered Accountant!!
In a nutshell, if you are self-employed then you will be in a much better position. You will be paid 'gross', and 'invoice' for your services. You will pay your tax in arrears on the basis of gross income less expenses. And those expenses can include that blue jumper, the stopwatch, the sub to Pilot etc etc. In other words you will pay tax on less than you would 'earn' on an employed basis.
Also you will pay much less in national insurance.
The risk is to the employer, not to you. If the Inland Revenue visit the 'employer' and decide you are an 'employee', they will want the undeducted tax and national insurance from the employer, not you!! There is always a bit or 'horsetrading' and negotiating between the IR and the errant employer depending on how many years, how many 'employees' etc etc, but the employer always picks up the tab (and very expensive it can be too!!!!).
In summary, the problem isn't yours! Usually, the difficulty is convincing an employer that they won't be 'stuffed' by accepting you as self-employed.
'They' should be phoning the Inland Revenue, not you!!
But one point: make sure that they are covering you for insurance in the event of accident, even though you are self-employed. I suggest getting this in writing.
You of course won't be getting all those wonderful perks such as non-contributory pension and free health insurance as a self-employed person, but in instructing who does?
All the best.
PS I should add that come the time of telling the Inland Revenue about your earnings, you will need to employ the services of an accountant, and please use a qualified one! If you need a recommendation, e-mail me. The savings from being self-employed will more than cover the fees!
[This message has been edited by GRpr (edited 19 April 2001).]
[This message has been edited by GRpr (edited 19 April 2001).]