The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) has welcomed news of deflation in the UK economy.

Last week, the consumer price index figures for September showed that prices had dropped by 0.1%. This news was welcomed by IPSE which said that lower prices and rising incomes were making freelancers and other self-employed people better off.  

While deflation is treated cautiously by some economists and politicians, lower consumer prices and, in particular, lower transport costs will directly benefit contractors.

The Office for National Statistics claimed that falling fuel costs was one of the major contributing factors to the dip in consumer prices.  

Responding to the new statistics, Lorence Nye, an economist at IPSE said: “Lower prices keep business costs down at a time when this is a significant concern for many independent professionals.

“Our research has shown freelancers’ daily rate of pay improve in recent months and continued low inflation levels should make them feel better off in real terms.”

Some contractors still missing out on generous travel expenses

When driving to and from a client’s site or ‘temporary workplace’, contractors under a PAYE umbrella can claim 45 pence a mile for the first 10,000 miles in a tax year and then 25 pence per mile after that.

Contractors which use the online portal to record and file their travel expenses stand to significantly increase their weekly take home pay, especially when fuel prices drop.

Peter Langham, Customer Services Director at Umbrella.co.uk said: “Any news which reduces costs and boosts take home pay for our contractors is welcome at Umbrella.co.uk.

“At the moment, petrol is 18 pence a litre cheaper than it was last year but we still see some of our contractors not filing receipts from the pumps. This is a shame because it means that they are missing out on quite significant amounts of money which they are entitled to claim.”

If you would like more information on travel expenses and how to claim them, please call our customer services team on 0800 121 6513.