Why now, why all at once — and will Trethowans really take contractors to court after 27 October?

A contractor who settled historic loans for £1,994 is now being pursued for £131,000 after the settled debt was apparently sold to West 28th Street.

FCSA has expelled MyPay after HMRC’s winding-up petition, but the umbrella still claims accreditation. An ex-HMRC inspector says steer clear, the REC urges caution, and APSCo tells agencies to investigate — just as two serving umbrella directors question accreditation’s limits.

HMRC reckoned no other impacts of JSL had been identified. Compliant small umbrellas squeezed off agency PSLs tell a different story, as does the growing number of live petitions by the taxman, and that ongoing umbrella unrest feeling. Budget 2026 needs to even the scales.

Robert Walters’ Jason King sets chancellor John Healey three Budget 2026 tasks to boost IT contractor hiring: fund AI skills, speed up security clearance and increase public sector digital spending.

Winners and judges react after the 2026 Contracting Awards in London, where several of last year’s victors successfully defended their titles, the first AI award was handed out, and one broker made it four in a row.

With Churchill Knight’s tribunal due in November and one contractor facing an alleged £52,700 bill, a former HMRC specialist tests the ‘cruel’ claim, in a world of nuance and non-hypotheticals.

Four recruiters endorse the REC’s best IT contractor figures in over three years. VIQU IT and Robert Walters see firms investing in tech; Reed says hiring managers are back with clearer budgets, and First Point even credits Andy Burnham but flags a guaranteed hours ‘banana skin.’

Setting up a limited company? Your home address could end up rather more public than you bargained for. From junk mail and identity theft to keeping home and business separate, here’s what contractors should know before putting their address on Companies House, and what to do if it’s already there.

IPSE’s Josh Toovey was in the room when Andrew Griffith MP pledged to ‘replace, not reform’ IR35. Here, exclusively for ContractorUK, he sets out the three IR35 models on the table — and names the frontrunners in the eyes of the UK’s self-employment body.

Contractors moving between PSC and umbrella arrangements face a higher risk of HMRC's tax calculation gaffe. Carl Bridges of Caroola Accountancy explains what the tech flaw dating back to 2021 means for 2025/26 tax bills, and why one-and-done is so yester-tax-year.

A new ‘dodgy’ dozen has joined HMRC's avoidance blacklist, which features an offshore trust with a self-voiding clause, three updates to the previously ‘named and shamed,’ and ‘too good to be true’ arrangements that threaten contractors with ‘tax bills, hardship and stress.’

The FCSA’s Andy Chamberlain reveals why DBT’s plans could see inside IR35 contractors' assignments cut short and umbrella companies handed guaranteed-hours obligations they can’t meet, as the government moves to put the zero-hours ‘cart’ before the agency regulatory ‘horse’ — unless a minister intervenes.

A slick new HMRC video and detailed policy paper promise clarity and straightforwardness for McCann loan charge settlers. Ten questions from ContractorUK going unanswered suggest otherwise.

From IR35 and tax admin to ‘business-friendly socialism,’ 52 contractors and small business owners give their early verdict on Andy Burnham, with 25 already negative and just nine positive. The new PM has some convincing to do.

From 1% deposits to 6.5x multipliers even on ‘fractional’ income, here's how contractor mortgages are already changing pre-Budget 2026 — and the one wish, and one worry, ahead of former housing minister and now chancellor John Healey delivering his verdict before Halloween.

From ‘permitted purpose’ clauses to ‘flow down’ obligations, a live High Court case triggered by ‘unusual email alerts’ and centring on a displaced software supplier offers five lessons in guarding your own when a big client moves on.

Amanda worked for eight weeks in 2016. She is now 63, retired and a grandmother of six — and almost a decade later, she is still being told that some of the money she earned is a debt.

There’s a slow tightening of the screw on the self-employed that might as well have eight consultancy giants at the handle end, and government policy as the torque. The PM or his chancellor should stop this billion-pound accumulation of UK self-harm dressed up as reform.

Contractor-turned-umbrella-company-body-CEO Chris Bryce outlines what’s deliverable, affordable and tangible in the new chancellor’s first budget, ranging from MSC reform and a statutory employment status test to banning the brolly bypass and eliminating the IR35 exemption ruse.

First Point Group, Bowers Partnership, VIQU IT and Robert Walters tell ContractorUK why the PM’s dislike of video interviews doesn't map onto professional tech contracting, where virtual is already the default — and, one recruiter argues, an IR35-neutral ‘leveller,’ rather than a mere ‘convenience.’

Urged to intervene against ‘HMRC cruelty’ in MSC cases, and U-turn employer NICs changes, chancellor John Healey is being called by SG, Re Legal and Caroola to fix the default of 'Inside IR35' when he delivers Budget 2026 on October 28th, even as FCSA says no OPW changes are coming.

Not every umbrella that underpays HMRC is doing the same thing wrong — and Joint & Several Liability doesn’t treat all three scenarios the same way. Nevertheless, ‘Can we trust it?’ is now the key brolly question being asked by contractors’ recruitment agencies and end-clients.

HMRC is consulting until Sunday on plans to make Direct Debit mandatory for VAT and PAYE payments, hitting contractors paid on agency terms of 30-60 days. Dedicated tax reserve accounts will surely come into their own. Either way, respond to HMRC.

HMRC’s recent focus on ‘reckless’ tax offences is a blunt instrument that risks tarring legitimate contractors with the same brush as tax evaders, warns SG Accounting’s Daniel Mepham.

After June's heatwave-linked dip, IT contractor demand is back in growth — its best month in nearly three years. First Point Group, SThree and Morgan McKinley reveal what's driving it, but it’s clearly not being felt by everyone.

UK IT contracting isn't shrinking, but it is getting pickier. SThree's Nicholas Tsappis explains why cybersecurity, AI and enterprise transformation are pulling in specialists, how IR35 is reshaping the way contractors get engaged, and which four sectors now expect more than technical skill alone.

As LinkedIn users herald a ‘quiet comeback’ in outside IR35 contracting, Reed's head of contract IT hiring Kelly Macey sets the record straight, and explains what's actually behind 2026's rise in outside IR35 roles.

Auto enrolment quietly sorts pensions for employees. Contractors get nothing of the sort, and fewer than one in five of the self-employed now saves into one at all. ContractorUK asked 278 contractors when they finally started, how IR35 shapes the route in, and what "enough" actually looks like.

Got an HMRC loan charge settlement letter? Here's what to check before you sign — including the £70,000 cap and how an untaxed income estimate could fall from £11,000 to just £3,000.

IR35, employment status, security clearance: IPSE's Joshua Toovey outlines the five tests Andy Burnham's government must pass in its first 100 days to earn contractors' trust.

Sir Keir Starmer's property-buying reforms appear locked in, but new PM Andy Burnham's instincts point somewhere else entirely. Freelancer Financials demystifies what both visions could mean for your next contractor mortgage, remortgage, or move up the ladder — and says what's still just speculation.

Markel Tax’s David Harmer unpacks how a mix-up between day rate and drop rate underpins an employment tribunal's ruling, with six key takeaways for contractors concerned about worker status and IR35.

There's a certain confidence in billing someone for money they don't have. As contractors, we spend half our lives chasing clients for payment on work we've actually done, often months after the invoice went out. HMRC, meanwhile, is exploring whether it can charge us tax on income that hasn't arrived yet.

Fresh from the FCSA Forum, Sapphire's Chris Bloor explains why Matthew Taylor's latest Fair Work Agency message matters for the contingent labour supply chain — and what agencies, end-clients and contractors should do now to shape zero-hours reform before the consultation closes on August 25th.

Contractors, we at Clarity Umbrella Ltd just got cloned. For the second time. JSL is one thing, but Companies House needs to get serious.

JSL is bedding in largely as HMRC intended almost 100 days in, with both due diligence and PSL scrutiny on the up, but 'Bills of Exchange' and patchy smaller-agency awareness show the compliance job is far from finished, says Parasol director Ashley Oliver.

A record heatwave, a Red Extreme Heat Warning and even the World Cup combined in June 2026 to end IT contractor demand's brief return to growth, with VIQU IT and Reed exclusively telling ContractorUK that the summer slowdown has arrived weeks early

As the government moves to guarantee workers' hours, umbrella contractors and end-clients face an unexpected shake-up to the balance between flexibility, security and IR35 risk. Not that limited company contractors will mind much, says FCSA's head of strategic policy and advocacy Andy Chamberlain.