Coronavirus News and Advice for Contractors

What does coronavirus mean for contractors? Here, we are bringing ContractorUK readers the latest news and advice on COVID-19, as and when it becomes available.

The current instruction from the government is to help control the virus by washing your hands regularly, wearing a face covering when you leave home, and staying at least a metre away from people not in your household.

Many contractors will be able to work remotely, and many probably already did even before the coronavirus pandemic. However for those who can’t, or for those whose clients have ended their contracts due to the current situation, what support is available?

Many directors who owner-manage an incorporated business can furlough themselves under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Some umbrella company contractors can also be furloughed too, as the scheme is for anyone operating a PAYE scheme. You can find more details about the CJRS and relevant updates for contractors in the guides below.

Some of the other measures which the government have brought in to support contractors include being able to defer VAT payments from 20 March 2020 to 30 June 2020, and delaying self-assessment income tax from July 31st 2020 to January 31st 2021.

You can keep informed with all the latest coronavirus news below, as well as our guides on COVID-19 which cover a wide range of topics from exclusive medical advice to legal advice for contractors.

To discuss coronavirus with other contractors and experts in the industry please visit the ContractorUK forum.

COVID-19 News

Keep up to date with the latest news and developments on Coronavirus here.

Work from home from Monday 'if you can,' contractors told

Boris Johnson widens Omicron restrictions to include a policy many contractor sector businesses are operating already.

‘Work from Home’ not included in new Omicron restrictions for England

Recruiters relieved at now in-force covid rules omitting forced leave from workplaces.

Work from home policy ‘a muddle,’ Boris Johnson told

Prime minister lambasted by a former fund manager for an ‘ambiguous’ WFH stance.

Contractor loses accrued holiday pay furlough claim

‘Fractured’ situation hits agency temps, as tribunals are left to sort out who is owed what and who was a ‘worker’ when.

HMRC’s furlough fraud probes hit 7,400, unsettling limited company directors

The sheer weight of CJRS interventions could be seized upon to keep denying directors help, fears Forgotten Ltd.

Contractors to rate the government on supporting limited companies during covid

The Guardian asks to hear from the excluded; The Times ‘misses the elephant in the room’ and The Sun is seen as a warning.

HMRC arrests Bradford duo over £3.4million 'furlough fraud'

Taxman ‘buckles down’ on a suspected CJRS rip-off and in the same loop, an alleged multi-million-pound scam.

IT contractor demand edges up despite 'January lockdown effect'

‘Not great’ for temporary techies, but ‘massively better than might have been expected’ – REC.

DISS architect to set Treasury straight on dividends

An ‘incensed’ Rebecca Seeley Harris vows a written rebuttal over HMT’s 'misunderstanding.'

CJRS: HMRC adds Employment Allowance section, cuts FPS detail

Two new updates to the furlough scheme are ‘easily overlooked, and obviously were by the government.’

COVID-19 Guides

How contractor limited company directors can use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Overview to the only cash grant PSC owners are being offered during the pandemic.

CJRS explainer: A contractor's step-by-step guide to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Flow chart on the furlough scheme, for both umbrella and limited company contractors hoping for 80% coverage.

What COVID-19 means for contractors under HMRC enquiry

This pandemic provides the perfect conditions for limited companies to ask leniency of the taxman.

Contractors’ Questions: Who furloughs me if I resigned and joined an umbrella but am a limited company?

Limited options for a ‘Ltd’ contractor whose start date was deferred due to coronavirus.

Contractors' Questions: Can I get paid during COVID-19 lockdown, now my client still won’t use PSCs?

Legal aid for a limited company contractor whose IR35 case is undermined by his coronavirus hopes.

The mindsets that can make or break your contractor business during and after the pandemic

Make like Rocky, not Bob, if you want to survive n’ thrive through the coronavirus outbreak.

Why COVID-19’s insolvency life-raft of measures isn’t designed to keep contractors afloat

Welcome as it is, a suspension to the wrongful trading rules won’t see limited company contractors right.

Contractors' Questions: Am I due COVID-19 financial support if my public sector client is terminating me?

By only ‘encouraging’ non-central government clients to pay out, the chancellor is ensuring thousands of contractors get overlooked.

Contracting during coronavirus: a PSC contractor’s legal survival guide

Forced to work? Fanatical to work? There’s practical contractual steps to take and a key clause to scrutinise.

Contractors’ Questions: Can my contractor umbrella company refuse to furlough me?

Nothing in the legislation for the CJRS forces umbrellas to cover their workers.