PCG Worried By Treasury Statement On Tax Arrangements

Posted on May 24, 2012 by icsjonathan

Following recent exposure into the government’s use of contractors and other workers engaged in ‘off payroll arrangements’, the treasury have released a statement outlining their review of various public sector tax arrangements.

The statement from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander MP, said that the review looked at these off payroll arrangements to identify situations where tax avoidance may be taking place. Although he also stated that in some cases it may be necessary or appropriate to appoint an individual off payroll, such as highly skilled or expert contractors, the fact that there were over 2,400 instances of this was “unacceptable”. Continue reading →

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REC Respond To ‘Beecroft Report’ Debate

Posted on May 23, 2012 by icsjonathan

A recent report into recommendations regarding employment law has generated mass debate from both politicians and employment bodies. The well publicised ‘Beecroft’ report has been commissioned by the government, and gives a number of proposals into reducing employment laws and regulatory burdens in order to encourage businesses to recruit more people.

The report outlines a number of measures, including exemption from new EU regulations for SMEs and from some health and safety regulations for many self employed workers. Whilst the government have said they are pleased with the report and are considering some of the ideas from it, opposition has been raised over what has been dubbed a “fire at will” proposal. Continue reading →

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APSCo Report Boost In Engineering And Finance Sectors

Posted on May 21, 2012 by icsjonathan

Despite last week’s news of a fall in the rate of unemployment, a number of reports have found that both temporary and permanent job markets are still struggling. The REC reported a slight fall within the temporary jobs market which has been supported by further data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies.

APSCo found that permanent vacancies were down over 20% from last year, with temporary roles facing similar, but smaller problems, at a drop of 10% compared to March 2011. However, some sectors have preformed particularly well, including roles within finance and engineering. Continue reading →

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Temporary Jobs Boost Reliant On Employer Confidence

Posted on May 17, 2012 by icsjonathan

With contractors and freelance workers subjected to a number of recent headlines, from the debate over how the government employs them, to the latest IR35 updates, there has been some positive news in the form of recent employment figures.

The Office for National Statistics revealed that the unemployment rate fell to 8.2% last month, with the total figure falling by 45,000 to 2.63 million in the UK. The REC’s Kevin Green welcomed the news of this fall, and said that it was in line with the data from their most recent Report on Jobs. Continue reading →

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Dispute Continues Between IR35 Forum Members

Posted on May 15, 2012 by icsjonathan

Last week’s announcement of the HMRC Business Entity Tests brought an anticipated negative reaction from a number of contractor groups, most notably the PCG, who have been an active member of the IR35 Forum.

The main area of disagreement is the proposed scoring system of the tests, which the PCG have disputed due to their claims that it was “unfair and not reflecting the realities of how businesses operate.” Martin Hesketh, who represented the FCSA on the forum, provided further insight into the disputed system; Continue reading →

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Groups Claim HMRC IR35 Tests ‘Lack Clarity’

Posted on May 14, 2012 by icsjonathan

Following the full release of the details of HMRC’s Business Entity Tests last week, a number of contractor groups and members of the IR35 Forum have responded to the announcement with a resounding joint statement.

The bodies representing freelancers and SMEs, which includes APSCo, FCSA, FSB, PCG and REC, have previously expressed concerns over aspects of the tests, and following the official announcement they have said that “HMRC have missed a great opportunity to bring clarity, transparency and fairness in dealing with IR35.” Continue reading →

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HMRC Release Details Of IR35 Business Entity Tests

Posted on May 11, 2012 by icsjonathan

After much speculation, the details of HMRC’s IR35 Business Entity Tests were finally revealed this week. The tests have been brought in following over a year of review from groups including the OTS, IR35 Forum and HMRC.

There has been a lot of scrutiny surrounding the announcement of the tests and particularly the way contractors are scored, with members of the IR35 Forum publically withdrawing their support due to disagreement over this. Continue reading →

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FCSA Give Further Response On Government Contractors

Posted on May 9, 2012 by icsjonathan

After a leaked letter last week revealed the government’s decision to review how some public sector employees are paid via limited companies, there was a strong response from the contractor and freelance community.

The PCG and IMA were among the first groups to respond, stating the value of contractors in both the public and private sector and defending those genuine contractors who may be caught up in the governments review. Continue reading →

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FSB Report SME Public Sector Struggle

Posted on May 8, 2012 by icsjonathan

A new report from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has revealed how small businesses are struggling to win public sector contracts, despite efforts from the Government over the last year to make more available.

The FSB’s ‘Voice of Small Business’ survey found that 40% of small firms believe the tendering process for public sector contracts is too complex, with a further 37% stating that bigger firms are preferred by public officials, who sideline many SMEs. Continue reading →

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Industry Groups Respond To Government Contractor Review

Posted on May 4, 2012 by icsjonathan

A number of contractor and industry groups have spoken out about the Government’s use of contractors, following a leaked letter last week. The letter revealed that a treasury official is reviewing pay and tax arrangements for some of the highly paid public sector contractors.

Jason Atkinson, chairman of the Interim Management Association (IMA), backed the government’s review of long term contractors and the wider investigation into tax avoidance. However, talking about the value of contractors and interim managers within both the public and private sector he expressed some caution regarding the review. He said; Continue reading →

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