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IT contractor demand climbed in August 2026 to 40-month high
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…
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News & HMRC
Budgets, HMRC moves and the contracting market. 3,079 articles, newest first.
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Luke’s Story: “I knew it was a loan. But they changed the rules.”
Many contractors knew that loans formed part of their remuneration arrangements. But are the debts being pursued today governed by the rules they actually agreed to?
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I registered my company with my home address. Whoops. Here's what Companies House shows the world about you
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…
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The Tories’ three IR35 replacement options — but contractors are right to be sceptical
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…
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Conservatives to replace IR35 outright, Griffith vows — advisers who met him reveal what it should contain
Andrew Griffith says the next Conservative government will wholesale replace IR35. Two advisers who met him tell ContractorUK what they now want to see — others call it…
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HMRC’s tax calculation errors: why contractors must check their bill now
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…
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HMRC names 12 loan charge-type schemes, one with ‘Tardis’ clause
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…
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Inside IR35 contractors as zero-hours reform victims is why Kate Dearden must meet us
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…
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HMRC leaves 37,000 contractors’ nil-liability question in the air
A slick new HMRC video and detailed policy paper promise clarity and straightforwardness for McCann loan charge settlers. Ten questions from ContractorUK going…
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Pay 2% to protect a ‘loan’. Settle it for 1–2%? The contractor debt mystery deepens
Contractors were offered protection from historic loans for a fraction of their face value. Years later, some of those loans were reportedly settled for similarly tiny…
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52 contractors told us what they think of Andy Burnham. Basically: not much, yet.
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…
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Budget 2026: what UK housing needs (and doesn’t)
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,…
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Who the hell is Ethica Resolve — and is it ethical?
A new name has appeared in the long-running contractor loan saga. It promises financial wellness, claims to have thousands of staff, and says it helps customers become…
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Data Kraken v Torry Harris: 5 lessons for software developer contractors
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…
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Loan Recall Case Study: Amanda
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…
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How IR35 inflated an £8.5bn consultancy bill — and tests Burnham at the Budget
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…
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Autumn Budget 2026: FCSA’s 5 contractor asks of John Healey
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…
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Andy Burnham's Zoom gripe doesn’t apply to IT contractors, say recruiters
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…
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Check your Loan Recall paperwork for the Isle of Man: it could matter
ContractorUK's investigation into historic contractor loan recalls has uncovered a regulatory question surrounding loans that were bought or administered in the Isle of…
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Budget 2026: Contractor advisers ask for ‘IR35 reset’
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…
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Why might an umbrella company fail to pay its total tax bill to HMRC?
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…
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Contractors, here are the late payment fixes that the Lords just turned down
The Commercial Payments Bill avoided the usual fate of promising legislation — getting butchered by the Lords and sent back watered down. But surviving intact isn't the…
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How will HMRC's Direct Debit plan affect contractors paying VAT and PAYE?
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…
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HMRC's new 'reckless' tax offence: an IR35 game-changer for contractors?
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…