Contractors Articles

In the first Scottish budget since the country gained more wide-ranging power to control income tax, the SNP’s finance minister has announced plans that will put a squeeze on middle and higher income tax payers in the country.

The first Holyrood budget, announced earlier this month, includes plans for a £190 million raid higher earners that will see some contractors paying £300 more than their English counterparts.

Starting with the more positive news for business motorists to come out of Phillip Hammond’s debut Autumn Statement, fuel duty has been frozen for the seventh consecutive year, meaning that contractors aren’t faced with having to dig deeper in order to put fuel in their vehicles, and nor are the firms some of them work for, such as couriers or construction companies.

The lamentable state of UK roads often results in delays along with damage to vehicles’ wheels, suspension and other components, so additional welcome news for contractors who drive is that an extra £1.1 billion will be provided by the government by 2020-21, aimed at relieving congestion and upgrading key roads. £220 million will also be spent on alleviating notorious pinch-points, helping the self-employed make more efficient use of their valuable time.

As a FreeAgent Premium Partner, Umbrella Accountants would like to congratulate FreeAgent on their recent flotation on the London Stock Exchange.

The company  was set up in 2007 by the three founders, Ed Molyneux, Olly Headey and Roan Lavery who were finding nothing suitable for their accounting needs in the marketplace. Set up with the intention of making accounting less painful for end users the company has gone from strength to strength since then winning prestigious Software Satisfaction Awards and thousands of new users along the way.

Umbrella Accountants moved to FreeAgent over two years ago because we also wanted to make handling finances as simple as possible for our contractors so it was a natural fit. We have attended Partner conferences at the head offices Scotland where we have seen much of what the future holds for the software, as well as taking part in round table discussions on tax changes that affect contractors and freelancers.

Congratulations once more to everyone at FreeAgent and we look forward to continuing to grow with them.

Organisations have been provided with a stark reminder that they are responsible for not just the health and safety of their own employees whilst driving ‘at work’ but also for any contractors they engage. This comes after Baldwin’s Crane Hire was fined £700,000 under tougher corporate manslaughter laws and ordered to pay £200,000 in legal costs...