The self-assessment deadline is less than a week away on January 31.
There are troubling signals for contractors in the construction industry as Carillion is forced into liquidation and sector output dips dramatically.
Contributing £90 billion to the economy each year, the construction sector is one of the largest in the UK. It is highly reliant on self-employed workers, with 800,000 of the 2.9 million people working in construction self-employed.
Carillion, the second largest construction company in the UK, went into liquidation on Monday after the company’s banks refused to lend it more money.
For many contractors, the Christmas break finished as quickly as it started. A whirlwind few days of stressed-out travelling and mince pie gorging is all that your average contractor can expect before its back to work.
But the New Year period does offer some space for quiet reflection.
Many contractors will have set New Year’s Resolutions and many of these will have centred on money.
The taxman has come under pressure from MPs and contracting organisations after it was revealed that HMRC doesn’t include time spent listening to automated messages in their official ‘waiting time’ figures.
January is a busy month for contractors. Many have a back-log of Christmas work and now have less than 2 weeks left to file any outstanding self-assessment tax returns.
We are delighted to announce that we have chosen East Cheshire Hospice as our nominated charity for 2018. As a 500 Club Member Umbrella.co.uk are committed to raising as much money as possible for the hospice through staff fundraising events.
Although there are many worthy charities out there, Umbrella.co.uk is Wilmslow based and we prefer to support local charities in the community where we operate and many of our staff live.
East Cheshire Hospice provide compassionate care and support to many local families and we are proud to support their invaluable work.