Contracting News

What steps umbrella employees should take to prepare for the new ‘JSL’ legislation (includes some urgent actions if you’re using a tax avoidance scheme).

Umbrellas get to retain their ERN and continue PAYE operations, while recruiters still ‘bear the brunt,’ under an updated version of HMRC’s incoming legislation.

Chancellor refrains from a £5k dividend raid (for now), while saying there won’t be a rerun of last autumn’s bruising.

Replacing like-for-like would be lamentable, even if BritCard is apparently going to be free and seamless technology.

Although the truth isn’t getting in the way of a good LinkedIn post, there are genuine lessons to learn from IT director Ben Wicken v Akita Systems Ltd.

TV host Ant Middleton is among the famous (and not-so-famous) faces falling foul of the Insolvency Service, with disqualification orders in just three cases totalling 16 years.

A leaked memo from the deputy PM to the chancellor asks for a £5,000+ cut to limited company contractor take-home pay.

This government (like the last) cannot settle on the self-employed, subjecting them to a never-ending, legislative merry-go-round.

There’s a new witty banner on LinkedIn. But it doesn’t filter to agencies, nor does it give the outside IR35 points you probably want.

What will your end-clients identify as? That is the question an HMRC update sets up as significant for April 6th 2027.

Accreditation body welcomes Lord Holmes’ clause to subject every ‘employment business participating in employment arrangements’ to a ‘licensing authority.’

Zero-hours workers are today’s IT contractors from the 1990s; HMRC’s thinking needs to catch up with that reality. 

A slight adjustment to the government’s train of thought could avoid derailing the umbrella industry for the 700,000 employees who rely on it.

A single test involving a Boox contractor, and the separate test case for CK contractors, could be scheduled before 2025 is out.

Two consecutive months of momentum ground to a halt in April, from a ‘bow wave of costs’ that dampened hiring.

Freshly ‘named and shamed’ Miwsa Ltd triggers a list-wide update, advising recruiters and contractors to scrutinise umbrella company tax deductions.

A postponement to payrolling BIKs of 12 months is being well-received, as is a 2027/28 penalty waiver (of sorts).

A ‘win-at-all-costs’ taxman is concerning for those of us who champion contracting, especially given the spring in his step courtesy of the courts.

James Murray MP just recommitted to arming HMRC with extra coshes to beat back a £600m problem, including by making more directors personally liable.

Combined with complications caused by PGMOL, limited grounds of appeal were the urologist’s undoing.

Chancellor is put on notice that rushing the PAYE shift risks ‘disrupting the supply chain’ and ‘reducing tax receipts to the exchequer.’

A weighty 63 questions is (hopefully) the government’s sign that avoiders will need a hard hat by the time HMRC is done.

An HMRC update clarifies that while the starting gun may be unholstered in April 2026, it won’t be fired until April 2027.

‘Examples of good practice for umbrella companies’ isn’t a fishing expedition. Even if some of the spelt out legal duties could be checked up on.

A big step towards 'the black' in March makes it the brightest month for IT contractors since November 2023.

April tax changes: why choosing the right business current account should matter to contractors now more than ever.

Taxman blackens the black mark he’s already put by three companies, while ‘naming and shaming’ four more schemes that he says ‘contractors should exit.’

The swingeing 8.7% tax hike is best broached now or at contract renewal but, either way, ensure your uplift calculation is correct.

An ‘essential’ new tax year update for limited company directors seeking to shore up the bottom line.

Ex-HMRC veteran tells ContractorUK that IT contractors could help his ‘focussed’ review, even if it is a ‘disappointingly narrow’ focus according to some.

The chancellor’s Revenue fillip is off to a fortuitous start. Just make sure you’re not the next John Strange.

Rachel Reeves is a chancellor ‘less about anything new and more about reaffirmation,’ so the ‘un-merry-go-round’ for UK contracting continues.

Despite a lean statement with no ‘further tax rises,’ umbrella and limited company workers aren’t off the hook, due to a ‘soon-to-be reinvigorated HMRC.’

Rachel Reeves unveils a ‘serious plan to renew our country,’ free of 'any further tax increases.'

Contrary to popular belief, ‘deemed employment’ and regulating umbrella companies are two separate proposals.

It’s all over for another player-turned-pundit and their IR35 appeal against a comfortably victorious HMRC.

Three housing market measures could upend the UK’s property landscape from this Wednesday.

Avoiding running off agency PAYE reference numbers is how the government can avoid destabilising the UK’s entire temporary labour market.

Contract workers must adjust to BRPs and ‘clipped’ no longer being acceptable RTW proof (even if you may feel like a second-class job-seeker).

A payroll tax liability-responsibility shift from umbrellas to agencies dangerously throws the baby out with the bathwater. It must be stopped.