Oil and gas contractors well positioned to meet acute onshore skills shortages
Oil and gas contractors can help to ease the acute shortage of onshore workers identified by the 2014 Oil & Gas UK Economic Report. “The critical area of shortage remains in mid-career personnel in a number of onshore roles, including project management, design, subsea and drilling engineering, and geosciences,” explains Oil & Gas UK. Multiple strategies are being adopted to ease the skills shortages, but where industry experience is vital, there are simply not enough suitably skilled workers available. More...
Contractor beneficiaries no longer have to suffer the ‘death tax’ on pensions
The beneficiaries of a contractor’s estate will no longer have to pay punitive taxes on the contractor’s pension when they die. According to a report by an independent financial adviser (IFA), if a contractor dies leaving their pension to a loved one, the family member would pay tax on the income at their marginal rate, or 55% if the contractor is over 75 when they die. The move by Chancellor George Osborne to abolish the 55% inheritance tax on defined contribution pension pots could save a contractor’s family thousands of pounds in taxes.
Contractors to celebrate this year’s National Freelancers Day on 19 November 2014
Contractors should make a note in their diaries that this year’s National Freelancers Day will take place on Wednesday 19 November 2014. The headline event featuring experts debating ‘unlocking the potential of independent professional and the self-employed’ will take place in London’s Tech City, with Manchester and Edinburgh also hosting events.“This year, we are calling on the self-employed in the UK and beyond to get behind our campaign to create a ‘freelancers utopia’,” says the day’s organisers, IPSE. Tickets are now available for contractors to book for their local event. More...
Contractors will see new projects and contractors from increasing corporate spend
Contractors are likely to see the numbers of new projects rise at the UK’s major corporate contracting clients, as their chief financial officers (CFOs) loosen businesses’ purse strings. The Deloitte CFO Survey for the third quarter of 2014 shows that risk taking by CFOs has reached a seven-year high. What this means for contractors is that postponed and delayed projects will be resumed and new projects will gain approval, both leading to more contracts. More...
Contractor membership of IPSE called on to help shape the association’s future
Contractors who are members of IPSE are asked to help shape the future of their organisation by completing a questionnaire about governance. Since making the transition from PCG to the association for Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, a review of the organisation’s governance arrangements has been completed. It recommends far-reaching changes to the management and governance structure, and its members can now make their views known. More...
Manufacturing contractors see continued hiring in the sector, despite slowdown
Contractors with clients in the manufacturing sector continued to see a stream of new contracts during September 2014 despite the sector’s slowdown. The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) UK Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for September 2014 showed that growth in the sector slowed almost to a standstill, yet the UK’s manufacturing firms kept hiring. “Whilst the sector is still expanding, growth is much softer than that seen in the first half of the year and indicates that growth in manufacturing may be harder to find in the final quarter of the year,” notes CIPS group CEO David Noble. More...
Contractors and their companies will have online tax accounts, says HMRC
Contractors and their limited companies will have a “personalised digital tax account, so we can help make it simpler, quicker and easier to pay the right tax at the right time”, says HMRC’s latest digital strategy document. The strategy also highlights that HMRC is responsible for two thirds of all government transactions, totalling 1.23bn during the 2012-13 financial year. The measures should help contractors and their accountants to better understand their tax position and to eliminate many of the 245m forms and 200m outbound letters HMRC sends each year. More...
Contractors could benefit from lower taxes if Cameron’s speech becomes reality
Contractors could be paying less income tax and corporation tax if the Conservatives win the next election, and Prime Minster David Cameron lives up to the promises he made during his speech to the Tory Party conference in Birmingham. The personal allowance will be increased to £12,500 and the higher rate tax threshold to £50,000, which are both measures that could cut contractors’ tax bills. “The Prime Minister’s commitment to lower taxes, for both businesses and individuals, will help to create an environment conducive to enterprise. Good news for independent professionals and their clients,” observes IPSE senior public affairs manager Andy Chamberlain. More...
Contractors travelling abroad on business have new HMRC worldwide scale rates
Contractors who are travelling overseas on business can use HMRC’s updated worldwide scales rates to claim travel and subsistence expenses. The latest rates came into force on 1 October 2014, and contractors can use these rates to reimburse themselves from their limited company for flat rate, income tax and National Insurance free, costs of subsistence and travel abroad. Contractors can also choose to simply claim what they spend, rather than use the rates and in both cases they must keep receipts as evidence of their expenditure. More...
High earning umbrella contractors in tax arrears face HMRC raids on their pay
Employed umbrella contractors and those on fixed-term contracts and agency payrolls who are in tax arrears could face raids on their salary of up to £17,000 a year following the introduction of new HMRC powers. Economia reports that under HMRC’s new ‘direct recovery of debt’ power, contractors owing money to the taxman and earning over £90,000 “could be subject to the maximum deduction of £17,000” and that “HMRC expects that an extra £115m will be raised during the 2015-16 tax year because of the new rules”. More...