The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne , will today at 12.30pm make his Autumn Statement.

He is expected to say there is no miracle cure to the UK's current economic issues. The chancellor will set out how he plans to reduce the deficit by cutting costs and increasing income.

Following all the recent adverse publicity there is expected to be some action taken on tax avoidance schemes where businesses and individuals have been able to pay reduced taxes by using the rules to their benefit.

What will be interesting for contractors is to see if there are any changes in respect of IR35 or for contractors working through umbrella companies (especially offshore umbrella companies).

We will of course be issuing an update as soon as the statement is made.

The full statement will be available at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/as2012_index.htm