Contractors in core contracting sectors are riding high in the demand league tables
Engineering, construction and IT contractors were among the top five spots in the recruitment demand league tables in June, according to the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)/KPMG Report on Jobs. Accounting and financial contractors were in sixth place and interims, who fall into the report’s ‘executive/professional’ category – were in ninth place. While this is good news for contractors in the short to medium term, it highlights potential future concerns. As REC’s Tom Hadley notes: “There are … persistent shortages across IT and engineering, which are becoming a serious threat to economic growth.” More...
UK Plc more confident about investing in headcount, including contractors
UK corporates, which between them hire huge numbers of contractors, are feeling increasingly positive, and are more likely to invest in growth and headcount. Commenting on a new Deloitte survey of UK chief financial officers, the firm’s chief economist, Ian Stewart, said: “With secure balance sheets and strong risk appetite, growth is the top balance sheet priority for UK corporates. CFOs’ expectations for capital spending, hiring and discretionary spending have risen strongly in the last year.” More...
UK oil and gas contractors to face a bigger-than-expected long-term drop in contracts?
North Sea contractors have been warned in the latest estimate from Westminster’s Office for Budget Responsibility that tax revenues from the North Sea could drop much more than previously thought. This could hit the number of available contracts in the coming decades. However, sceptics in the Scottish Parliament believe the decline to be overstated and the timing of the report, weeks away from the Scottish referendum, to be politically motivated. OBR chairman Robert Chote told the Scottish Parliament that the OBR has cut its estimate of North Sea tax revenues by a quarter between 2020 and 2041, blaming the fall on an expectation of dropping production costs. More...
Oil and gas contracting: still plenty of opportunities for non-specialists
Contracting in the North Sea may be in long-term decline, but in the UK and worldwide there remain skill shortages throughout the oil and gas sector, providing opportunities for non-specialists to transition into extractive energy contracts. Previous sector experience is less important for support roles, such as IT, finance and HR, according to Ed Allnutt, head of oil and gas at global recruiter Hays. But when it comes to more sector-specific engineering and geosciences skills, the transition is less easy, he says: “Few companies are prepared to commit the time and resources it takes to re-skill someone from a different sector.” More...
Contractors using tax avoidance schemes remain a target of a fired-up HMRC
Contractors have seen HMRC suffer a bruising week, losing its appeal over the use of Employee Benefit Trusts by the former owners of Rangers Football Club, and having accountants saying the taxman can’t be trusted with its new powers. However, HMRC has made it clear that it is neither down nor out, and will be continuing its high-profile cases against aggressive tax avoiders. For example, Rachel Savage, writing in Management Today, says: “Investment company Ingenious Media… has written to 1,300 past and present investors to warn them the taxman could hit them with a bill totalling £520m, even though a legal battle over taxes is far from over.” More...
Contractors’ tax avoidance schemes: how far would and should you go?
With the media full of news in the past weeks and months of HMRC’s ongoing campaign against tax avoidance schemes, contractor accountant David Colom has described to ContractorCalculator the importance of individual contactors understanding where they fall on the tax avoidance scheme spectrum. “Tax avoidance is perfectly legal, despite its demonisation by politicians and the media,” says Colom. In a useful overview, he describes the various scheme types, and points out that the best schemes for contractors feature watertight application of tax legislation, are very carefully implemented, and tend to be made available by reliable promoters. More...
Liberty’s £1.2bn tax avoidance scheme may have included contractors
Contractors may be caught up in what is being described as the largest tax avoidance scheme ever marketed, when HMRC takes the Liberty case to court in March 2015.The case has attracted wide publicity because of the large number of celebrities involved. And a database leaked to The Times is said to show that the Liberty scheme members involved go far beyond just high profile people, and may include high-earning contractors. According to Channel 4 News, members may soon receive large tax demands, which they will have to pay in advance of the tribunal. More...
Taxman is stepping up its raids on the homes of suspected tax evaders
Suspected tax evaders are more likely than ever to find the taxman raiding their homes, according to figures from Pinsent Masons. “HMRC is making a huge effort to up the ante against tax evasion, raiding more properties and arresting more suspects just to keep up with its criminal prosecutions target," says the law firm’s Jason Collins. There were 500 property searches by HMRC in the last tax year, up from 445 in the previous one, and more than triple the average number of searches carried out each year between 2008 and 2011. More...
Contractor terminated for not covering butterfly tattoo unlikely to have legal case
Consulting solicitor Jo Perkins had her contract terminated by client Salisbury FM after failing to cover up a butterfly tattoo on her foot, because she thought wearing socks with her smart dresses would “look stupid”. According to Mail Online, her contract was terminated some weeks after Salisbury FM brought in rules requiring workers to cover tattoos. Perkins is considering taking legal action for discrimination against the facilities management firm. However, employment lawyer Nicholas Lakeland told the Mail that the client “can pretty much get away with it” because this is not really a discrimination case and Perkins was working as a contractor, not an employee. More...