Contractors with pensions and savings are the winners from the 2014 Budget
Contractors with pensions and savings, and those nearing retirement, benefit the most from this year’s budget, although the new National Insurance Contributions (NIC) allowance of £2,000 will also help limited company contractors. The Chancellor’s radical pension reform has been accompanied by the implementation of the false self-employment legislation and measures to tackle tax avoidance and non-payment, such as allowing HMRC to take money directly from defaulters’ bank accounts. More...
Contractor demand in Scotland “showed a sharp and slightly accelerated increase”
Contractor demand, vacancies, rates and agency billings all increased during February 2014. The latest Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs also suggests that Scotland’s labour market is nearing the same conditions as at its pre-recession peak. Accounts and financial was the best performing of the core contracting disciplines, rising to third place in the demand league table from fourth in January. “The number of people appointed to both permanent and temporary jobs rose sharply,” said Bank of Scotland chief economist Donald MacRae. More...
Legitimate public sector interim management contractors still targeted by media
The two latest interim management contractors working in the public sector to be targeted by unfavourable media attention are working for the government’s Directly Operating Railways agency. Online news site Exaro, which ran the original off-payroll news story about the Student Loans Company’s chief executive Ed Lester, continues to highlight that senior interims avoid paying tax at source. However, its reporting fails to acknowledge that interims do pay tax via their contractor limited companies, incorrectly labelling such contractors as civil servants. More...
Contractor clients targeted by new HMRC campaign that could threaten livelihoods
Contractor clients are being sent letters referring to their contractors by the taxman’s Large Business Service. PCG believes this new HMRC campaign could damage contractor-client relationships and threaten contractor livelihoods. The letters request full details of all individuals, companies and partnerships that have been paid between £1,000 and £350,000 during the 2012-2013 financial year. “There is simply no justification for HMRC to write to clients requesting detailed information on the working practices of their suppliers, especially when you consider that they are doing so with absolutely no evidence of any wrongdoing,” says PCG CEO Chris Bryce. More...
Self-employed contractor and freelancer numbers reach new record high
The numbers of self-employed contractors and freelancers reached a new record high in the three months to end-January 2014. According to the latest Labour Market data from the Office for National Statistics, self-employment grew by 211,000 during the quarter to reach 4.464m. Full-time self-employment grew by 158,000, suggesting that this growth is not underpinned by workers going self-employed part-time because they are unable to find full-time permanent work, but because they prefer to be self-employed. More...
Energy contractors boost from major wind farm approval
Energy contractors could benefit from up to 4,600 new contracts and jobs from the Outer Moray Firth wind farm development, which has just received government approval. According to BB News, the wind farm will be the third largest in the world and sustain 580 contracts and jobs during operation. “This is a critical step not only in the delivery of this project, but in the development of offshore wind in deeper water, further from shore,” notes Joao Manso Neto, CEO of EDP Renovaveis, a partner in the scheme. More...
Umbrellas and limited company contractors may be facing fines over RTI
Umbrella companies and limited company contractors could be the target of HMRC’s latest campaign to encourage more employers to use its Real Time Information (RTI) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) initiative. Ellie Clayton writes on Economia that 70,000 employers – likely to include some umbrella companies and contractor limited companies – have been sent emails by HMRC threatening fines of £100 if they fail to file by 19 May 2014. More...
UK contractors to benefit from EFIP manifesto policy measures
UK contractors may benefit directly from some of the policy measures proposed in the European Forum of Independent Professionals’ (EFIP) Manifesto for Freelancing. The manifesto is designed to raise awareness of independent professionals (iPros), with the objective of getting them higher on the policy agenda at a European level. The manifesto’s main requests are related to gaining greater recognition, because iPros are largely ignored or considered to be small businesses by European policymakers. More...
UK oil and gas contractors a step closer to having a new Irish source of contracts
UK oil and gas contractors are a step closer to having a new Western European oil and gas province, and a fresh source of contracts, in Ireland’s Atlantic margin. A report by Proactive Investors highlights that exploration activity by oil and gas firms is ramping up, with the results of a recently completed 3D seismic survey due in July 2014. Experts believe that the results could lead to “drill-ready prospects”, with drilling possibly able to start as soon as in early 2015. More...
Contractors owing money to the taxman may have their assets seized
Limited company contractors owning significant amounts to the taxman are at greater risk than ever of having their company assets seized by HMRC using its powers of distraint. The powers enable the taxman to seize assets and auction them to pay tax bills. According to figures obtained by finance provider Syscap: “Fourteen times more businesses were targeted last year than five years ago. 3,657 businesses had assets seized by HMRC last year using its powers of distraint, compared to just 263 in 2008/9.” More...