I'm a retired pilot and spent the last few years of my working days as a contractor. I did it to earn as much cash as possible. With the help of a good accountant I managed to use tax residency laws to avoid paying tax for a number of years which allowed me to build up a pension pot.
I know that residency rules have changed a lot in recent years and in particular in Ireland. Having said that there are still opportunities around to put tax abatement schemes in place. Regardless of whether Brookfield are forcing you to use one accountant or another I would advise each guy to get an hour's consultation with an accountant who knows what he is talking about. It will be money well spent.
I know about the Brookfield thing because a young guy in my flying club is caught up in it. He spoke to me about it and I brought him to my old accountant to see if he could help him out.
He was aware of this three or four director company thing as other industries have used it. He said it is far form ideal and there are significant risks attached to it particularly if you or your fellow directors have additonal income that they earn outside of a BRK contract.
He did say that the four man company system could be OK given that he should save a considerable amount in accountancy fees.
He expected that the accountancy fee for a company should be around €2,000 a year. There would not be much more work involved in a one man company or a four man. He didn't see a massive issue for my friend using the four man company providing he wasn't paying more than €500 a year and that he got a profile of the other directors from the accountancy firm operating it.
The advice therefore was to go ahead with the four man comapny if the fees were small but if the fee was anything over around €1,200 then set up his own compamy with his brother as the other director.
In additon and he felt there was an increased risk of a revenue audit. If the comapny or any of the three other people are selected for a revenue audit you can be pretty sure that the inspector will take a look into the affiars of the company and the other directors.
I asked the accountant what he would do and he said set up his own comapny even if it cost a little bit extra a year. he reckoned the extra fees could be made back with good tax planning.
Incidentally my old accountant is not interested in the business. He is as old as me and charges a dam site more than €2,000 a year for his advice. He has been worth every penny for me.
Best of luck with it but take some advice from an old timer. Don't assume that you know more about the sytem than you do. I flew with guys who were using a DIY tax evasion method and are stuck in the Middle East now and can't move back home for a few years becuase of the liabilities waiting for them if they move back to soon.