Contract opportunities fell in June across all contracting disciplines
Contract opportunities fell cross IT, engineering, energy and construction during June 2012. The latest Reed Job Index shows the amount of work available in the marketing, media, finance and consultancy sectors also fell. The positive news is that most of these markets still performed better in June 2012 than they did in June 2011, as reed.co.uk managing director Martin Warnes explains: “"Though month on month growth fell back slightly, largely due to the extended bank holiday period, broadly speaking, job opportunities are growing healthily across many sectors and in the vast majority of regions.” More...
Contractors benefit from greater clarity and less IR35 risk following Autoclenz ruling
Contractors may find that clients will work harder to clarify their status, resulting in less IR35 risk, following the Autoclenz ruling employment law, Professor Patricia Leighton tells ContractorCalculator. The Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher & Ors ruling provides HMRC with case law that it can apply to disregard written contracts between contractors and their clients. “But it is clients who potentially have the most to lose when contractors are disregarded as a result of workers’ claims for employment rights,” says Leighton. This places greater pressure on clients to ensure that the status of their flexible workforce of contractors is clear. More...
Sharp increase in financial activity benefits IT contractors
The sharp increase in financial sector activity in June 2012 may directly benefit financial IT contractors. The activity spike was noted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)/PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Financial Services Survey June 2012. However, less welcome news is that the survey also reveals an equally sharp drop in confidence, potentially resulting in falling headcounts and investment. “Businesses are less optimistic than in the previous survey, have reduced headcount and are reappraising investment plans,” says CBI chief economic advisor Ian McCafferty. More...
Financial IT contractor rates attract 30-50% premium
Financial IT contractor rates attract a 30-50% premium when compared with comparable assignments in broader commerce and industry sectors. The Robert Walters Global Salary Survey 2012 provides detailed rate bands on a country by country basis for a broad range of contract roles across IT, accounting and finance, compliance and legal, marketing and sales and other disciplines. Although it has a financial services focus, the survey is a useful, though inherently out-of-date, benchmark for contractors when negotiating rates with agencies and clients. More...
Contractor membership body PCG wins top trade association award
Contractor membership body PCG has gained recognition for National Freelancers Day 2011, by winning the Event of the Year Award at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice awards. The PCG-organised event in 2011 promoted contractors’ interests to an estimated 6.5m national audience through the events and associated publicity. It even became the top trending UK Twitter story and generated a message of support from David Cameron. The fourth National Freelancers Day (NFD) will be held on Wednesday 21 November 2012.
“Imaginative and brave approach” required to stimulate contract markets
Contract markets and the wider UK economy require the government to take an “imaginative and bold approach” to stimulate growth. This is according to the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) new Quarterly Economic Survey (QES), which shows that economic growth remains weak. While the results for Q2 2012 suggest that businesses are growing, the pace is “sluggish and inadequate for a sustainable recovery”. The BCC calls for measures such as new infrastructure spending that, if adopted by government, could result in new contract opportunities. More...
Contractors warned as HMRC’s offshore tax unit takes its first scalp
Contractors with undeclared and untaxed assets overseas received a stark warning from HMRC about the consequences of being caught by its recently formed offshore tax unit. BBC News reports that property developer Michael Shanley pleaded guilty to tax evasion worth £430,000 for funds held in a Swiss bank account discovered by HMRC. With fines and costs, he now owes the taxman £856,547. HMRC told the BBC: “He thought it was out of reach of HMRC and hoped we would never find it. However, we discovered it, and he will pay a heavy penalty.” More...
DECC news round-up for green collar contractors
The Department of Energy & Climate Change has published the July edition of its news round-up for contractors working in renewable energy and environmental fields, or ‘green collar’ contractors. This month’s issue features updates on government initiatives that may lead to contract opportunities, plus the chance for contractors to make their voices heard via open consultations. More...
Late filing contractors offered limited tax return amnesty by HMRC
Contractors who have failed to complete their self assessment tax returns for 2009-2010 or earlier have been offered a limited amnesty by HMRC in its latest tax avoidance campaign. Contractors in stable umbrella or agency payroll rules are most likely to be affected and have the opportunity to submit their returns, pay any outstanding tax and interest and existing penalties by 12 October 2012. Although HMRC has the powers to impose penalties of up to 100% of the unpaid tax liability, it says it expects most contractors won’t have to pay penalties apart from existing late filing fixed penalties. The exception will be where fraud is suspected.
Small businesses “haunted by worries about tax mistakes”
Owners of small businesses live in fear of HMRC throughout the whole of their working lives, according to a survey of small businesses, including limited company contractors. According to the Daily Telegraph’s Roland Gribben, the survey, which was commissioned by HMRC and the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), “found that nervousness about contact with HMRC extended even to those who did not find tax difficult, because there was an underlying fear of ‘getting things wrong’”. More...