The Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced measures in the summer statement to help the UK recover from the effects of the coronavirus.Below we have put together a summarised brief of the announcements.Jobs Retention Bonus: If an employer brings back a furloughed employee and keeps them in the job to January, then the Government will pay a £1,000 bonus per employee. Sunak stated, "It's vital people aren't just returning for the sake of it - they need to be doing decent work.”For businesses … [Read more...]
HMRC Tackling Construction Industry Scheme Abuse
HMRC have launched a consultation concerning ways to tackle abuse of the construction industry scheme.The consultation seeks views on changes to the rules to prevent tax loss from the CIS. HMRC will have the power to correct the CIS deduction amounts claimed by sub-contractors on their Real Time Information (RTI) Employer Payment Summary (EPS) returns and seeks views on the implementation process.The 10 week consultation started on the 19th March and will conclude on the 28th May … [Read more...]
IR35 is coming regardless of Brexit or a General Election
Just because government are unable to sort out Brexit, this does not mean that IR35 scheduled in for April 2020 is going to be delayed. Regardless of Brexit, a General Election and possible leader change, IR35 will still be in place and actioned. There has been much mentioned recently that with a General Election and possible change in government IR35 will be shelved. This is not going to happen, according to a representative from Saffrey Champness, one of the UK's Top 20 accountancy … [Read more...]
To Prefer or not To Prefer…. That is the question
Whilst many Recruitment Agencies utilise a Preferred Supplier List (PSL) of umbrella companies and contractor accountants, how sure can stakeholders of an agency be that this is being enforced by their workforce?Unfortunately, not everyone plays fair and with the introduction of various pieces of legislation in the past few years, the need for an agency and its directors to protect itself has never been greater. The new Criminal Finance Act especially includes the corporate offence which … [Read more...]
No ‘IR35′ in Spring Statement splits contractors’ advisers
The contractor sector must wait a little longer to learn the fate of IR35 in the private sector, as today’s Spring Statement made no mention of it.“Predictably, our sector has been left in the dark over potential IR35 changes,” says Seb Maley, chief executive of IR35 advisory Qdos Contractor.Referring to a consultation on IR35 -- promised at 2017’s Autumn Budget, Mr Maley added: “The government must realise that the sooner they offer clarity over the situation, the better.”Asked … [Read more...]
Hammond schedules Spring Statement 2018
The government’s Spring 2018 “Statement” - not Budget - has been timetabled by the chancellor for Tuesday March 13th 2018.The distinction that the statement is not a Budget, nor a fiscal event, was made by Philip Hammond to MPs on the Treasury Select Committee.It follows his pledge at Autumn Statement 2016 that, to make life easier for businesses and other taxpayers, there will be no further Budgets in the Spring, only the Autumn.But the March statement is still an opportunity for Mr … [Read more...]
Autumn Budget 2017: Hammond moves to extend IR35 reforms
A consultation for the much-feared extension of the April IR35 reforms to the private sector was put in place earlier today, when Philip Hammond delivered Autumn Budget 2017.In a move that experts say could hit contracting more than the introduction of IR35 itself, the chancellor said he would consult on the "possible next step" of rolling out the reforms to cover all PSC engagements."How to tackle non-compliance in the private sector, drawing on the experience of the public sector … [Read more...]
Autumn 2017 Budget update
Thanks to Julia Kermode, Chief Executive of the FCSA (Freelancer & Contractor Services Association), for this concise summary of the Chancellor's 2017 Autumn Budget Statement. In the event, there was less news relating to the payroll/recruitment agency/contractor sector than many had anticipated. IR35 reform in the private sector Surprisingly the Chancellor’s speech did not mention IR35 or off-payroll at all so we were left to establish their plans from the red book. Here the Chancellor … [Read more...]
Do you provide workers in the Public Sector? Don’t be left out in the cold!
Since our previous correspondence following the Budget on Wednesday, we have been absolutely flat out talking with contract workers and agencies. It would seem the changes have left a large number of payroll companies scratching their heads as to what they can offer post April 6th. The most significant development to affect our sector in the Budget 2016 will be the changes to the engagement of Personal Service Companies (PSCs) within the public sector, with the agency/hirer being responsible for … [Read more...]
Travel and subsistence expenses changes from April 2016
Following on from yesterday’s Finance Bill 2016, we now know that the Government has ignored the widespread warnings issued by industry bodies and has pushed ahead with its plans to cut travel and subsistence expenses for contractors, from April 2016, which, were as we expected. The main changes are as follows: • T&S expenses will not qualify for tax relief on “ordinary commuting” type expenses where an intermediary is involved unless the worker is not subject to (or the right of) … [Read more...]