Help on understanding how the film industry pays freelancers

Antoinnette

Hi there,
I have just taken on a client who makes props for different films. He is freelance and works on various films. He has just given me his paperwork and his income is made up of weekly payslips with his NI number and Employer reference of the various film companies but no NI or tax deducted. The payslips seem to be produced by one company for the different employers. He explained to me that thousands of people work on these sets and they cannot process invoices so they give them payslips instead. I sort of understand it to a certain extent but cant get my head around how it fits in with the test for employment when it has all the bearings of a payslip from employment but no tax deducted. I would be very happy if anyone else who prepares accounts for the film industry can enlighten me.

deanshepherd

Treat them like remittance advices.

In reality it is usually a self-billing system. The reason they outsource these payments is the tv and film industry is a minefield in determining whether somebody can be legitimately paid as a freelancer or whether they have to go on payroll. Therefore, specialist bureaus do this on behalf of the production companies. Usually they will use the same payroll software so these remittance advices look the same as the payslips for employees.

Watch out for actors payslips. They are often self-employed for tax purposes (so NT tax code) but employed for NIC!