Contractors Articles

What the Chancellor’s ‘back to work’ budget means for employees

The headline measures in Jeremy Hunt’s ‘back to work’ budget will benefit expectant parents and some higher earners, but a lack of action on tax brackets will leave many workers worse off.

In the 2023 Budget, the main policy announcements for employees revolve around childcare and pension reform.

How flexible working can attract over-50s back to work
marketing | 9 November 2022
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Contracting and other types of flexible working could help bring more over-50s back into the workforce. That’s according to Umbrella.co.uk director Miles Grady.

The Bank of England has expressed concern at the rising number of over-50s not in work or looking for work in recent months.

Jeremy Hunt scraps Kwarteng’s IR35 reforms
marketing | 17 October 2022
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Jeremy Hunt has scrapped plans to reform off-payroll working rules (IR35) days after replacing Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor.

IR35 rules apply to contractors that operate through a limited company. Currently, a contractor’s IR35 status is assessed by the contractor’s client, but Kwasi Kwarteng’s now infamous mini-budget included plans for contractors to determine their own IR35 status from April 2023.

Unemployment reaches lowest rate since 1970s
marketing | 26 September 2022
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Britain’s unemployment rate reached 3.6% in the three months to July 2022. This figure was down 0.2 percentage points on the previous quarter and represents the lowest rate since 1974.

HMRC’s fresh crackdown on tax avoidance schemes

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has brought fresh impetus to its crackdown on tax avoidance schemes, issuing a £1 million fine for one promoter and ‘naming and shaming’ four additional schemes.

Hyrax Resourcing Ltd received a £1 million fine for promoting a tax avoidance scheme that paid contractors through loans rather than taxable income.

The team at Umbrella have skipped over the finish line and raised a whopping £4,540 for Cancer Research UK.

The teams at Umbrella have skipped over the finish line and raised a whopping £1,539.10 for Cancer Research UK.

Umbrella.co.uk signed up to the February 2023 Cancer Research UK Skipping Challenge. Our teams completed the 100 skips a day with wild enthusiasm to raise vital funds for life-saving cancer research.

Some umbrella contractors missing out on £3,000+ holiday pay

New figures suggest that dodgy umbrella companies could be costing thousands of temporary workers through lost holiday pay. 

Freelance support group IWORK calculated that at an average salary of £26,000 per year, umbrella workers would be missing out on more than £3,000 of holiday pay.

They estimate that if just 2% of the UK’s 1.6 million temps are affected, they would be shortchanged by a collective £97 million per year.

IR35 update: Answering your questions
marketing | 12 October 2022
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In his September ‘mini-budget,’ the new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng dropped an IR35 bombshell, reversing recent reforms in the Public and Private Sectors.

The announcement left some contractors with important questions that we’ve tried to answer in this blog post.

New Chancellor Drops IR35 Bombshell in Government Mini-Budget
marketing | 23 September 2022
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Liz Truss’ new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng dropped an IR35 bombshell today, announcing he would reverse off-payroll (IR35) reforms in the Public and Private sectors from April 2023.

The significant, and generally unexpected announcement means it will be up to individual contractors to decide whether they are inside or outside IR35, with no input from their clients.

Kwarteng said reversing the reforms is aimed at taking complexity out of the tax system.

Nine-in-ten contractors don’t believe new PM’s IR35 promise
marketing | 6 September 2022
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More than nine out of every ten contractors (94%) think Liz Truss’s pledge to review IR35 is an ‘empty promise’, according to a survey by Qdos.

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