CISR44120 - Register and maintain subcontractor: turnover test: determining the ‘multiple� for concerns

| CISR44600 | Action guide contents | |—————————————————————————————————–|———————–|

For partnerships using the standard turnover test, the threshold is dictated by the number of partners involved. For companies, the threshold is determined by the number of ‘relevant persons�. In each case the individual turnover threshold is multiplied by these numbers.

For a partnership, the multiple is based on

  • those partners who are individuals and,
  • where one or more companies is a partner, the number of ‘relevant personsâ€� in the company member or members.

For a company, the relevant persons are

  • its directors and
  • where the company is ‘closeâ€�, (broadly, where it is controlled by five or fewer persons) its other beneficial shareholders (directors and shareholders in close companies are called ‘relevant personsâ€� in the legislation)

Where a person is both a director and a beneficial shareholder that person is only counted once in the calculation, similarly in a mixed partnership where one of the partners in the partnership is also acting as a director or shareholder in a limited company that also acts as a partner in the same partnership that person is again only counted once. Note that the legislation applies to all shareholders regardless of the rights attaching to the share issue.

Where a company has one or more other companies acting as directors, each corporate director is only counted as one relevant person, regardless of the structure of that individual company. See Example 5 below.

The following examples 1 and 2 show how the number of partners in partnership cases should be determined.Example 1

Example of determination of number of partners to be considered in applying the turnover test.

A partnership has 3 partners, 2 of whom are individuals. The remaining partner is a ‘close� company that has 2 directors and 2 beneficial shareholders other than the directors. There are thus 4 ‘relevant persons� in the company.

The number of participants remains unchanged throughout the test period. The multiplying factor is therefore 2 individual partners plus 4 ‘relevant persons� = 6.

The individual turnover threshold in force throughout the test period is £30,000.

The partnership must show net turnover of £180,000 to meet the threshold for any year in the test period.Example 2

Example of determination of number of partners to be considered in applying the turnover test.

A partnership has 3 partners, 2 of whom are individuals. The remaining partner is a ‘close� company that has 2 directors and 2 beneficial shareholders other than the directors. The company joined the partnership 6 months before the application is submitted. There are thus 4 ‘relevant persons� in the company.

The multiple applicable to the partnership is therefore 2 individual partners plus 4 company relevant persons = 6.

The individual threshold is £30 000.

The partnership threshold for the 12 months preceding the date of application is 6 x £30,000 = £180,000.

The following examples 3 and 4 show how the number of relevant persons in company cases should be determined.Example 3

Example of determination of relevant persons in a company application.

A company is a ‘close� company having 2 directors who hold shares and a further 3 beneficial shareholders.

There are no changes in the number of directors and shareholders throughout the test period.

Since there are 5 ‘relevant persons� the multiplier to be applied is 5. The individual turnover threshold in force throughout the test period is £30,000.

This company must show turnover of £150,000 to meet or exceed the threshold for any year in the test period.Example 4

Example of determination of number of relevant persons in a company application.

A company is a ‘close� company having 2 directors who hold shares and one other beneficial shareholder at the date of application. Six months before the application was submitted there was a further shareholder who was not also a director. For the first 6 months of the qualifying period there were thus 2 directors and 4 shareholders (including, that is, the directors holding shares).

However, where a person is both director and shareholder, they are only counted once in calculating the multiple. The multiple is therefore 2 directors plus 4 shareholders = 6 minus 2 for the dual director/shareholder adjustment = 4.

The individual turnover threshold in force throughout the test period is £30,000.

This company must show turnover of £120,000 to meet or exceed the threshold for any year in the test period.Example 5

Example of determination of number of relevant persons in a company application.

A company has 3 directors that are ‘relevant persons� and 1 director that is another corporate body. That makes 4 ‘relevant persons� in this example. Where a director of a company is another corporate body that company is only counted as one relevant person regardless of how many directors it may have itself.