HMRC loses husband and wife dividend income splitting case
Although contractors are still vulnerable to HMRC attacks on husband and wife (or same sex married partner) businesses, a recent ruling suggests that the courts are becoming more sympathetic to married teams in business together. In her ruling on the Patmore vs HMRC case, judge Barbara Mosedale applied the precedent created by the Arctic Systems case, which requires tribunals to take ‘a broad and realistic view’. She said: “It certainly seems to me that this is a case where HMRC has not done so.” More…
Key IT contractor market continues to improve
London’s financial services sector, the largest UK consumer of IT contractors, has seen a monthly increase in July of 7% in the number of job opportunities, and shows a whopping rise of 71% compared to July 2009 according to July’s London Employment Monitor. According to Morgan McKinley Financial Services MD Andrew Evans: “[the 7% increase] is the second highest level of hiring activity, not only this year, but since August 08, illustrating that the jobs market for professionals in financial services continues to follow a steady pace of recovery.” More…
Online recruitment falls, but IT and engineering buck the trend
Overall online recruitment fell by 2% in July according to the Monster Employment Index, but the core contracting sectors of IT, engineering, construction and research and development all bucked the trend by showing increases in online demand. Online demand for IT workers has risen by 24% year on year. “The annual growth displayed by the July Index is encouraging, with a 17 percent increase pointing to a sustained long-term improvement in online worker demand,” explains Julian Acquari, managing director at Monster UK & Ireland. More…
Demand growth for workers in Scotland slows
July’s Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs reported a fall in the number of permanent employees, even though permanent vacancies have increased. Demand for contractors is sustained, albeit at a slower rate than the previous month, with an unbroken run of 11 months of increasing temporary worker demand. IT and computing staff continue to top the table of contractors most in demand north of the border. More…
GAAR ‘super law’ could gazump IR35 successor
Announced by the Chancellor George Osborne in the emergency Budget in June, the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) could emerge in next April’s Finance Bill well ahead of any replacement to IR35. Designed to strangle anti-avoidance schemes at birth, a properly constituted GAAR could potentially clarify the tax status of contractors concerned about their IR35 status. More…
Small business organisation calls for pension exemptions
According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), all micro-firms – including contractor limited companies – should be exempt from new government pension regulations. These are due to come into force in two years time, and require compulsory registration of employees into company schemes. The FSB is concerned that micro-firms of ten people or fewer lack the expertise to choose appropriate pension arrangements. Most contractors are best placed to manage pension arrangements by consulting with their Independent Financial Adviser. More…
Survey reveals freelance use by SMEs reaches 50%
Freelance marketplace PeoplePerHour reveals in its Small Business Survey 2010 that an estimated 50% of small- to medium-sized enterprises in the UK now use freelancers and contractors at least monthly. The principal reason for using freelancers cited by respondents to the survey is that freelancers provide “quick access to specialist skills”. The survey also found that 60% of small firms plan to invest in the next financial year, principally in IT and the web. More…
Civil engineers see surprise upswing in workload
Prospects for civil engineering and construction contractors in the construction and infrastructure engineering sectors may be turning positive. In its first survey carried out under since this year’s change of government, the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) reports in its CECA Workloads Trends Survey that the “change of government has been accompanied by an unanticipated upswing in the industry’s fortunes”. Private clients, particularly in the utilities sector, are responsible for the improving workloads. More…