The day the government abolished any certainty over your tax affairs
Contractors might be surprised at how readily MPs gave up the fight to amend Section 58(4) without making a stand against retrospective legislation.
What impact does encouraging contractors to ‘go permie’ have on contracting?
Oil and gas contractors are being encouraged to ‘go permie’ by skills hungry clients. How does this move impact on the contracting sector’s dynamics?
The tax avoidance debate: why should contractors pay more tax than the law requires?
The tax avoidance debate has become absurd: why should contractors be told by MPs ignorant of how taxation works to pay more tax than required by law?
IR35 enquiries: the seven questions that deserve an answer from HMRC now
Contractors, and all taxpayers for that matter, deserve answers from HMRC about the effectiveness of the IR35 processes it introduced in May 2012.
Is it time for the UK to welcome non-EU contractors with open arms?
Contractors keen to start new businesses may be further welcomed in the US, should new immigration legislation become law. Would it work for the UK?
Is UK contracting unstoppable, or should we fear Australia’s reversal?
The course of UK contracting appears unstoppable, which it probably did in Australia before contractor numbers fell by 130,000 in the last two years.
Contractors, not employee shareholders, are the solution to supporting entrepreneurs
Contractors already deliver an ideal solution to supporting entrepreneurs with flexible, low risk talent. There’s no need for a new class of worker.
Contractor IR35 reviews: don’t rely on your client to get the facts straight
Contractors mustn’t rely on their client to keep good records, and should create their own IR35 dossier, as a recent Employment Tribunal highlights.
Products don’t sell themselves. Neither do many contractors.
Contractors, especially new ones, are rarely able to sell themselves directly to clients. This is why they need agencies’ professional sales skills.
Contractors will still come up smelling of roses, despite the no-growth Budget
Contractors are resilient, doing well in tough times as well good. They may have to be, following what’s been revealed about growth in the Budget.
IR35 isn’t only nuts: it’s also anti-business and makes UK contractors uncompetitive
Contractors are forced into all sorts of anti-business behaviours due to IR35. Clients must think we’re all mad, and it makes UK firms uncompetitive.
IR35 peace of mind costs less than a round of drinks
Contractors seem less well prepared for HMRC’s latest IR35 campaign, despite peace of mind being available for less than the cost of a round of drinks.
Contractors are becoming more demanding consumers of accountancy services
Contractors are becoming more demanding and mature consumers of accountancy services, with accountants increasingly segmenting according to need.
Naming & shaming tax avoidance scheme promoters and their users is missing the point
Contractors using tax avoidance schemes face being ‘named and shamed’ alongside the scheme promoter. But isn’t that just avoiding the real issue?
Employment: Why do people bother, when it pays so badly compared to contracting?
Contracting beats employment every time when it comes down to take home pay, so what’s in it for employees in exchange for all the extra tax they pay?
Osborne’s double-dip Budget approach taxes contractors’ money, time and resources
If the Chancellor stopped using the autumn statement as a mini-Budget, contractors would be relieved of a small part of the tax administration burden.
Contractors , hold your nerve: the UK economy is not doing so badly
Contractors should hold their nerve and keep contracting as, despite some gloomy economic news, many success stories don’t make the media headlines.
Contractor compliance: is the tax avoidance debate ‘fiddling while Rome burns’?
Contractors routinely take tax planning measures. But is the tax avoidance question, recently debated on AccountancyAge, missing the big picture?
Who’s most immoral? Contractors in work or the union trying to destroy their jobs?
Contractors and recruiters mitigating the impact of the Agency Workers Regulations have been branded as ‘immoral’ by the Communications Workers Union.
Will 2013 be the year of the contractor?
Contractor numbers are growing and clients are increasingly likely to hire them. Is 2013 set to be the year of contracting?
IR35 avoidance industry: when is an office holder not an office holder?
Now IR35 has been extended to cover ‘office holders’, contractors may be faced with battling HMRC over yet another a status not defined in statute.
UK taxation is suffering from ‘tax code rot’, making it too cumbersome to maintain
IT contractors familiar with the concept of ‘code rot’ will appreciate how our tax code is suffering from the same, resulting in real inefficiencies.
HMRC’s letters to ‘tax avoiders’: a step too far, even for the taxman
HMRC’s latest targeting of tax avoidance scheme users with letters threatening investigations is a step too far – and damaging to the tax system.
The economy and growth: a ‘perfect storm’ of demand for contractors?
Contractors may be on the edge of a ‘perfect storm’ of demand as the UK teeters on the brink of economic recovery and a growth strategy is released.
Media contractor conundrum: BBC caught between a rock and a hard place
Media contractors should pay more tax, the BBC is told by the MPs. But this reduces value and increases costs to the taxpayer. What’s the BBC to do?
Has the Labour movement finally got contracting?
Contractors and the Labour movement have not been natural bedfellows. But a new Fabian Society report may indicate Labour’s changing perceptions.
It’s complexity, not avoidance, driving the UK’s tax gap: we need a simpler system
HMRC’s latest estimate of the UK’s tax gap demonstrates that is it a simpler tax regime that’s needed, not additional anti-avoidance measures.
Offer tax breaks to contractors to support start-ups, not shares to ‘employees-lite’
Why didn’t George Osborne offer contractors tax breaks to support enterprise, rather than try to create an underclass of rights-stripped employees?
‘Soaking the rich’ won’t raise more tax: the UK needs vision & leadership for growth
The ‘rich’ already pay more than half of all tax. New tax can only come from the ‘squeezed middle’. But what the UK really needs is a growth strategy.
HMRC overseeing GAAR? It’s like barbers legislating on hair length
HMRC should have no more influence over the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) Panel than barbers should have in setting hair length legislation.