Umbrella.co.uk staff support Food Friend Wilmslow

The staff at Umbrella.co.uk have collected and delivered much needed items to our local food bank, Food Friend, based at St Bartholomews in Wilmslow.

Food Friend is run and organised by St Bartholomew's Church and provides short term assistance and support to individuals and families in Wilmslow. Illness, disability, family breakdown or the loss of a job could happen to any of us.

 

Fewer Contractors Saving for Retirement

New research suggests that the pensions system is broken for independent workers, with a 12% increase in the number of contractors that aren’t saving for retirement.

The survey of 1,000 contractors shows that almost two-thirds of people that work for themselves avoid paying any money into a personal pension scheme.

That equates to almost three million contractors that may not have enough money when they finally give up work.

Large and medium sized private sector organisations have just over a year left to prepare for important changes to IR35 legislation.

When similar changes were introduced in the public sector in April 2017, many organisations were woefully underprepared. In the most serious cases, public sector organisations made costly errors and saw major projects delayed.

Getting ready for April 2020 requires effective leadership and co-operation across departments and business areas.

In this blog post, we will provide a brief introduction to the changes before detailing what different teams can do to prepare.

 

Lorraine Kelly, HMRC, IR35, broadcaster, tax, tribunal, ITV, control, BBC
Editor | 21 March 2019

HMRC has suffered another high-profile IR35 defeat after broadcaster Lorraine Kelly successfully appealed a £1.2m tax bill at a tribunal.

The tax authority had claimed that the host of the popular weekday morning Lorraine show was effectively an ITV employee and so was liable to pay income tax and National Insurance contributions.

How the Spring Statement affects contractors

The Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his annual Spring Statement on Wednesday, providing an update on the state of the economy and announcing several minor policy updates.

Although the Spring Statement doesn’t have the kind of wholesale policy announcements that are characteristic of the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor did have some important news for contractors and professional employment service providers.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the most important issues for the sector.

HMRC Launches Private Sector IR35 Consultation

HMRC has launched a fresh consultation on changes to off-payroll Intermediaries Legislation (IR35), due to take effect in the private sector from April 2020.

The changes would see reforms introduced in the public sector in 2017 extended to the private sector.

The change will affect contractors that operate through an intermediary like a limited company or personal service company (PSC).

Instead of judging their own IR35 status, the private sector organisation that engages the contract will make this decision. It could mean that more contractors are deemed ‘inside IR35’ and liable to  pay income tax and National Insurance contributions.