All News

IHT, pensions and ISA changes. Each look likelier on Nov 22nd than what contractors actually need -- a new body to license umbrella companies.

Economic woes eat into prospects and pay for IT contractors, despite 17 different techies being in short supply in September.

Increasing how much tax-free saving accounts can hold would be better than streamlining ISAs on November 22nd.

The process for probing cases of serious harm and suicide linked to government policy is farcical, and insulting to 10 grieving families, says Sammy Wilson MP in this ContractorUK exclusive.

Forget him trying to improve his off-payroll working tool, the taxman should just rename it, ‘CEST - Cheating Every Self-employed Taxpayer.’

It’s the make-up of each brick in the taxman’s 60-strong ‘wall of shame’ that deserves your close scrutiny.

A call to remove the Sword of Damocles is understandable, even if it shouldn't be aimed at the chancellor.

Muted launch mirrors advisers’ muted reactions, as even the most optimistic describe the update as just a ‘step in the right direction.’

With an embedded ESM and extra review options, the new off-payroll working tool makes a few key changes to getting IR35-tested with the taxman.

Overview to CEST’s update, including what’s not changing, and why we’re all waiting on PGMOL.

HMRC’s new five-year high in foreign tax authority data requests indicates its link-up with 110 taxmen in 2014 was only the start.

We are where we are, which - decoded for contractors - means the cheap money era is over. So don’t lose your dream home over FOMO.

A 60-strong list of hardly new arrangements which HMRC says to avoid signals ‘its efforts to stop avoidance aren’t working.’

Managed Service Company rules are so widely drafted that us advisers are too spooked to help contractors, as we fear personal liabilities from influencing or involvement.

Not ‘extreme’ enough, says one expert, but ISA simplification might nonetheless benefit contractors, even if Hunt hasn’t got them in mind.

Unworkable -- even harmful, and definitely passing the buck. This quick fix attempt at brolly regulation just won’t do.

Minister chooses not to say that the offset is already being factored in to off-payroll compliance checks.

The only prime minister to have ever gone against IR35 indirectly gains a backer -- former Cabinet minister Sir John Redwood.

'Mr White' features in both, but unlike Reservoir Dogs, Manolete Partners v White is a tale of cunning plans, executed with real flair.

Before going forward to HMRC to blame their tax adviser, contractors should check they’d pass the ‘double-reasonableness test.’

Advisers are relieved, as an avoidance scheme that preyed on many contractors is finally ‘named and shamed’ -- albeit just for the next 12 months only.

Leaving just one part of your profile less than ‘dope’ could be what loses you that dream IT contract.

The underway Festival of Learning is the perfect springboard to teach yourself what you want, over what your clients need.

The future for Power BI contractors looks bright, as organisations focus on data-driven decision-making, data visualisation and analytics.

Staffing body the REC says the tech sector needs temporary workers to support more projects.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt must use Autumn Statement to answer a weighty question that flexible staff end-users need answering, and soon.

Taxman is trialling what’s not meant to be introduced until April 6th 2024, in a bid to stop double-taxation.

Contractor sector shares its hopes, fears and expectations on the back of chancellor Jeremy Hunt setting the date for his second AS.

Not having enough expertise to go around can no longer only be a job for organisations.

It’s taken government a long time to get here. But the wait until contractors have clarity on umbrella companies isn’t going to be short.

‘Promptly,’ or ‘weekly at least.’ Not following the contractual terms of when you must submit to get paid can prove costly.

Binns, Zajota, Pajpani and even Collins put the onus on umbrellas to be crystal clear on what and how much they pay contractors.

It’s not a loophole, nor a golden ticket, but your ‘managed services contract’ as a ‘consultancy’ might be an HMRC investigation-target.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt expected to help ex-workers with mental health issues, using ideas from the minister who introduced the Loan Charge.

Only a few hours left for workers, umbrellas -- and agencies, to contribute to the government consultation on umbrella company compliance

Contractor sector employers rather than individual contractors may need to act, now the UK is strengthening the enshrining of requests to work contractor-like patterns.

Importing overseas contractors is billed as how to keep the UK on a par with rivals ahead of the curve on CCUS and AI.

Digital estate planning as a contractor is clearly lax if it covers you but not your company.

A telling series of posts by tax experts sheds light on the ‘game-changing,’ ‘show-offs’ who do your books.

The government’s belated bid to regulate brollies is attracting neither mass support from experts nor many submissions by workers.

Hiring 1,630 temps but not engaging a single PSC outside IR35, the recruitment approach of the Revenue is irony at its most alarming.

On top of making the default time to pay them compulsory, the UK’s tiny companies deserve tougher enforcement against late payers.

Dividend-payers should get clued up on the worst-case scenario -- HMRC seizing personal assets to recover amounts owed to your limited company.

Overview to how much you can distribute without needing to tell the taxman.

How to look after and value ‘you,’ amid the price of everything around you going haywire.

Improving the off-payroll rules, while threatening abusive brolly engagers with a hefty HMRC liability, should put PSCs back in vogue.

You wouldn’t want just anything to happen to your physical body and assets after death, so why should your digital presence and digital assets be any different?

A compromise to ease the impasse between taxman and taxpayer exists -- but it’ll take clean hands and open minds before the long journey can begin.

A Companies House filing from June 28th raises concern for a ‘large number’ of out-of-pocket Optimum users.

In wake of Optimum Pay Group entering insolvency, Lawspeed outlines the options if your umbrella company is next to fold.

Do you want to be the football guru on ContractorUK and win a cash prize?

A shake-up in technology hiring has already begun -- those who recognise rather than resent it will be its beneficiaries.

Once the 'go-to' pension for tiny traders, a SIPP in 2023 represents a proposition all contractors should get their head around.

The appetite for temporary techies finally grows again, on the back of economic jitters and employers ‘reshaping.’

SafeRec sits down with a worker who came perilously close to falling into the clutches of an abusive arrangement, built by a former taxman.

Overview of options of the financial type -- for when contractors want to stop contracting and build a nest egg.

What we actually want the government’s consultation to achieve, by the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association’s Chris Bryce.

An accreditation body joins umbrella companies in misusing logos, highlighting just how much of a ‘Wild West’ the government’s consultation has to tame.

With temporary techies’ pay up 23% in the last two years, our advice to clients to not cut corners on rates must be resonating -- SThree.

Too much meaningless action, over too much time, smacks of a PR-driven taxman not serious about stopping scheme promoters.

What it takes in 2023 to lay the foundations of a successful career as a contract engineer.

One thing’s for sure, ‘unintended consequences’ (potentially from IR35 reform) is something government have had it up to here with.

Top 10 ways contractors’ recruiters can separate the reputable from the rogue, when selecting a brolly partner.

Overview of the HMRC number which employers get when they register with the Revenue.

Hays reveals what’s driving a 5.8% annual pay premium in cyber, rising to a mega 9.3% uplift in financial services.

July versus July might not look especially pretty, so apply these five factors to keep your career hot this summertime.

Strong Silent-types gain the most from clearing their head, by emptying their thoughts out into a chat with a trusted listener.

Alleviating the staffing crisis in the UK health service will be tricky if government doesn’t even address a key aggravator -- IR35 reform.   

Disturbing the UK’s contractor market – or worse destroying it, is the dangerous sum of the Treasury’s imbalanced proposals.

Like the judge who ripped a recruiter apart, a contractor on LinkedIn is part of the fightback against IR35 ignorance which is gaining ground.

All eyes on the Autumn when CEST 2.0 is due, despite ‘unable to determine’ now being almost as likely as ‘inside IR35.’

From client prospecting to proposal creation, there’s nothing artificial about the heavy lifting ChatGPT can do for your company if it’s used intelligently.

Despite take-home dents from ‘dreaded’ IR35 reform, some computer contractors have landed premiums of almost double-digits in the last year.

A reset and collaboration with ContractorUK readers is our objective, to help stop future contractors getting caught out by the non-compliant.

Whether you’re a contractor who missed out, or an agent hit by the umbrella consultation, have your say.

A program manager who wanted to be an employee, or if not a worker (but has been ruled as neither), might turn HMRC’s head.

Government called to ‘remedy a rank injustice’ that the taxman carries out under the frameworks of 2000 and 2007.

Just like tiny companies, us advisers can only hope Spring Statement’s vow of easier HMRC interactions doesn’t get broken like our tax system.

As frustrated agents look on, last month saw a ‘significant step-up in candidate availability,’ including in ‘higher paid, remote-friendly occupations.’

The AI darling of the moment is sweet for IT contractors in a rush, who can’t spell and need the bare essentials. But for true professionals? It’s a bit sour.

Jeremy Hunt hints he’ll disappoint contractor companies hoping for pre-election tax sweeteners.

The outlook for umbrella companies looks bleak under both options two and three.

Matchtech takes a deep dive into the IT sector’s key changes, including how rapid progression is impacting contractor skillsets.

Officials are putting the relative permissiveness of the past to bed by getting tough on all PSC operators.

The tools to dismantle Jekyll and Hyde-style umbrella operators exist. But is the take-home just too tempting?

Website admins, cloud providers and data protection officers are among those who may need to assess, review, and even notify.

‘Possible drawbacks’ of leaving the UK are better than losing 50% gross to taxes, suggest a fifth of contractors.

Staffing bosses must accept a role they seem to be shirking, to stamp out arrangements that abuse both the exchequer and contractors.

Advisers say what clients still don’t get; what’s wrong with CEST, and what seeing off the taxman takes.

The ABA Motors case reinforces throwing everything at the taxman from the start.

A tribunal stats update by the MoJ lumps fraudulent Mini-Umbrella Companies in with bonafide brollies.

Quantity doesn’t mean quality in the eyes of some, as the still-criticised Revenue blacklist chalks up its almost 50th entry.

ContractorUK readers reassured it’s ok to be a little ‘out there’ when posting on LinkedIn.

IR35 is exampled as the unwinnable ‘arms race’ HMRC is in -- for trying to remedy one ill only to set parameters for the next.

An employment tribunal order on just one of them to return £29,885 in unlawful deductions should be enough to prompt all brollies into action.

The appeal says more about the taxman than the taxpayer or others with similar arrangements.

Taxman approaches the Upper Tribunal to put IR35 back in play against England’s former skipper.

Service providers were recognised last night for their efforts in supporting contractors. 

A new approach to adopting smarter regulation wants workers’ views built-in. And that approach is opening with umbrellas.

Despite the story 'varying widely across different businesses,' software development and tech last month weakened significantly.