They may be coming down on you because she has not paid her tax bills, in which case you might have some difficulty in getting her to co-operate. Essentially you need to establish some or all of the following points, that:
- You have no say in how she runs her business.
- You put no money into it.
- She is responsible for the losses, as well as the profits.
- You have no control over when she works for you, or where.
- You provide her with none of the equipment she needs to do her job.
- She receives no regular payments; the bulk of the money that you pay her relates to her results.
- She works for other businesses as well (if possible).
This kind of situation - in which you could get landed with paying for her tax and National Insurance (NI) bills - underlines the importance of having a clear contract with self-employed sales people (see question 6).
