Locum Vet Jobs in the UK

If you’ve been working as a locum Vet Surgeon or an locum RVN in the UK, you may have been trading as a limited company or PSC (Personal service company) in order to maximise your take home pay.

In this article we will be discussing locum vet jobs in the UK post April 6th 2021 when the IR35 legislation amendment hits the private sector. Up until now the onus of responsibility and more importantly liability of Tax has been on the contractor (Locum vets). Meaning that the person legally and financially responsible for your tax was you, the locum. The agency that you worked through and the practice you worked has no part in your Tax affairs – until now! When the 2021- 2022 tax year starts on the 6th of April, the end employer – i.e. the person that pays the final bill for your services – will be held responsible for your mode that you use in order to pay your taxes.

This has sent a shockwave through the veterinary profession – particularly the corporates who fall into the middle to large business bracket with annual turnovers of over 10 million per year. Businesses with a turnover of less than this amount fall into the small business category. Therefore, they are not covered by the legislation amendment.

Working as a locum vet or locum vet nurse through a ltd company will no longer be a straightforward process. For each assignment an individual CEST assessment must be done. This has been created to determine whether you can be classed as outside IR35. There are various checks like – do you bring your own equipment/vehicle to work or work off your own timetable.

How will this affect a locum vet financially?

The main effect is that they will now be liable for employers NI of 13.8% and pension contributions of 3%. Someone has to pay this – either you or the practice you are working for. We will discuss this with you at the time of your placement and work out a viable solution. Many locums who are working via umbrella will be footing the full cost of this are putting up their rates to counter the increase tax burden.

After April 6th, most corporates are specifying that your umbrella company must be regulated and FCSA accredited. So make sure that you check with them that they are. We only use accredited umbrella companies so there will be no issue if you’re working through us.

​As with the public sector, which changed in 2017, this will settle and the locum market isn’t going to stop.