After staff cuts at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) last year, the number of tax investigations doubled and taxpayers were left waiting nearly an hour to speak to the taxman. An investigation from the National Audit Office (NAO) found that the number of “outstanding discrepancies” in Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax records soared between March 2014 and March 2015 from 2.4m to 4.6m. Of those, 3.2m “were high priority cases, carrying a risk that employees will have paid the wrong amount of tax”.The … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2016
Freelancing is growing exponentially in the US, with the UK close behind
In the US, freelancing and temporary work was the norm up until the late 19th century. Most employment outside farming was in manufacturing, and it was mainly temporary. In 1910 half the workers in production jobs were independent contractors.Starting around the 1880s, companies started to bring together large workforces, and created more structured jobs. Wage controls during the world wars resulted in large benefit programs being created. With unions a rising force, laws were created to … [Read more...]
Labour market figures show the UK flexible workforce is only getting stronger….
NS Labour market figures out today show that the UK workforce has increased due to an upsurge in self-employment and temporary workers. 20,000 more people are choosing to work self-employed, plus 28,000 more are working on a temporary basis. The figures are based on a comparison between Q4 2015 and Q1 2016. Commenting on today’s employment figures, Julia Kermode, CEO of FCSA said: “Today’s figures clearly demonstrate just how important the flexible workforce is to UK plc. With the … [Read more...]
Treasury Minister meets FCSA in discussion on the Government’s PSC reforms
FCSA members have held a roundtable with David Gauke MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, as part of the trade association’s mission to build relations and continue discussions with the Treasury regarding tax policy for umbrella companies and PSCs. Hosted by The CBI, the focus of the meeting centred on the proposals announced at the 2016 Budget to change the tax framework for PSCs in public sector engagement. Members heard from the Minister that he is keen to work with stakeholders to … [Read more...]
HMRC in ‘cracking win’ over MSC contractors
The first ever court appeal against the MSC legislation has found in favour of the taxman, who is calling the ruling “cracking” for protecting up to £9million.Such is the total sum expected to be safeguarded in respect of all limited companies set up under the scheme before the court, which was run by Costelloe Business Services (CBS).Accused of being a MSC that encouraged the avoidance of £378,000 in tax (including NICs) by encouraging contractors into limited companies, CBS gave just … [Read more...]