Contracting News

Brolly bosses back the taxman for his uncharacteristic use of plain English.

Technology is driving a Deliveroo-approach to hiring. But whether it’s ghosting or catfishing, don’t put up with it.

Even the tool of the moment prefers humans to machines, confirming that algorithm is no substitute for a professional adviser’s experience.

After nearly falling flat in November, IT contracting passes the ‘test month’ of January by adding three index points.

It’s not just during covid that contractors and other dynamos who work for themselves have been excluded by this government.

The government binning IR35 reform, only to dust it off a few weeks later, has made long hours of knowledge-sharing worth it.

Budget speculation begins as to what it contains (such as a rise in the VAT threshold), and what the opposition might do differently.

Talk from the chancellor of ‘regulatory flexibility provided by Brexit’ will seem as fantastical to many IT contractors as the shores they once visited.

In the SEB’s absence refer to guidance, say officials, even if understanding it does require ‘fingers in three places at once.’

‘It’s time to explore alternative strategies – like going after rogue umbrella companies.’

How 70,000 job cuts in a single month should sit with computer freelancers on this side of the pond.

Ringing the Revenue is the best response if you’re a contractor who didn’t file or pay before midnight.

Linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone’s husband, a company with clients who died being chased by the taxman is finally 'named and shamed.'

The HM Treasury boss who reinstated IR35 reform audaciously claims to tech entrepreneurs that he’ll back them to the hilt.

Guidance to those intending to flout the 31st deadline is the sort of guidance it pains accountants to give.

Former tax inspector flags up where the FTT blew the whistle on the Revenue’s status match-up against the Sky Sports commentator.

Government accused of gross negligence by 'wilfully ignoring’ risk-to-life alerts while trying to prioritise justifying an ‘immoral policy.’

Following the off-payroll shambles, who knows what the next Budget holds. But…

MPs won’t be the only ones waiting to hear how it is that ‘HMRC manifestly failed to do its duty on an industrial scale’ with agency workers who used umbrella companies.

What contractors who want to move this year need to understand about lenders, the economy and the market.

An administration that has ‘wholly failed to address issues plaguing the contract workforce,’ narrowly gets the benefit of the doubt from experts.

FCSA: Any and all reasonable evidence of unlawful or underhanded practice will be looked into, alongside the companies we’re already investigating.

The Mainpay ruling reinforces ‘If it seems too good to be true, then it invariably is.’ That's now even more the case, with no SEB.

Government called to spell out what it will do with umbrellas, if it won’t regulate them via the SEB.

Delays on pre-Christmas hires makes January ‘the big test,’ but growth in IT contractor demand is already on the up again.

Badly let down by his accountants, the Sky Sports pundit and former rugby star won’t even get to tackle the taxman.

Dangerous to the truth: a mass of questionable statics is unquestionably designed to give the taxman a pat on the back.

A self-initiated clean-up, supported by agencies, is this year crucial for the economy and the umbrella sector.

As 2022 draws to a close, the REC takes a deep dive into hiring trends in the technology sector.

A status expert’s reflections on 12 months that will live long in the memory – for all the wrong reasons.

‘Not yet a major slowdown’ warns the REC, even if demand for full-time techies is already in negative territory.

A cautionary tale for contractors about lack of focus – on a CV; on your business, on your status.

Six status scenarios playing out now, and bound to continue into next year.

The dust settling on the chancellor’s Green Book is far from pacifying its many critics, including two political IR35 heavyweights.

Concern raised for NHS workers and other ‘average earners’ who used CML, given that HMRC tends to chase individuals, not brollies.

Wider grounds than potentially unauthorised deductions of employer NICs should be considered if taking a brolly to tribunal.

Sombre and powerful, a vigil-turned-protest outside HMRC’s office is further pressure on a chancellor being asked for answers -- by 55 advisers and 80 MPs.

Clean-up efforts look underway, with agencies, government and a charity responding to the payroll sector’s ‘not great’ goings-on.

It’s wild; hysterical and panic-inducing – and that’s only the coverage. Fortunately for contractors, the likelihood is just a reversion of the property market to 2021.

For being more limited than limited companies feared, Hunt’s CGT reforms are a bit of a let-off for small, entrepreneurial businesses.