What is your financial profile, and how to calculate it as a contractor?

The shrewd won’t skimp on a financial profiling adviser who, in turn, shouldn’t skim over the key financial areas that inform PSC workers of their worth.

Contracting overseas is still limited, but three destinations have an edge as covid restrictions ease

Few and far between are your options for working abroad, although Cyprus looks more of a go-to than Spain and the Netherlands.

Unlike Neil McCann, contractors, keep your eye on the IR35 ball of control, mutuality and personal service

Don’t get caught offside by the taxman with generic contracts; key factors against you, and witnesses that fail to score for your side.

Treasury response to umbrella company call for evidence ‘will be brutal for the FCSA’

Fresh from clearing JSA, the compliance group is told of ‘a lot, lot more’ to come than just a holiday pay pocketing allegation.

Government must realise, thousands of workers in umbrella companies are employed against their will

The IR35 reform-induced trend of unwilling employment? Like PSLs and holiday pay, ministers owe it to work-seekers to intervene.

IR35: Seven in ten contractors forced into umbrella companies

‘Absolutely sickening’ of government to push bonafide business owners into ‘benefit-less’ employment.

With insolvency it seems the numbers don’t lie, but are contractor companies already past the worst of it?

Just like CVLs, insolvencies are going in the wrong direction for the recovery effort. So let’s all hope IR35 determinations continue to turn the corner.

Why nobody is safe with a Managed Service Company Provider in the contractual chain

With HMRC pursuing both accountants and contractors under MSC rules, the time for action is now.

Should you make your husband or wife a shareholder of your limited company?

Not always easy to broach. Not straightforward. So expectantly, there’s tax savings (with a spouse) to be had.

Contractors, are you keeping your limited company safe with these cyber-security steps?

Log-on to an accountant’s webinar on cyber-security as a PSC, now that hackers have undone a string of contractor service providers.

IR35: Eammon Holmes condemns HMRC as ‘the department of thievery’

The TV presenter goes off-script to tell viewers what he really thinks of the taxman.

MPs probing HMRC Loan Charge receive 'deeply worrying' evidence

The Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG is set to reveal the ‘awful situation people are in.’

As a new contractor with lots of permie experience, do I need to bother much with a CV?

‘Your numerous promotions yesteryear won’t count for much in the contractor market, even if you are a 30-year tech veteran.’

How to buy gifts for your clients and claim on expenses

Boost morale, say thanks or just get a little extra out of your limited company. While being aware of HMRC traps.

Advisers to contractors back HMRC finally ‘naming and shaming’ avoidance promoters

Despite it being 15 years overdue, and him still not ‘cutting off the head of the snake,’ the taxman’s new blacklist is being welcomed.

What McCann Media Ltd losing to HMRC on IR35 means for IT contractors

The game of two halves is also a game of opinions – a bit like IR35, which another Sky Sports presenter has been defeated under.

Can my limited company pay for my director’s life insurance?

Paying for death-in-service benefits via your PSC can be non-taxing for you and your loved ones -- if you get it right.

IT contractor launches petition against Preferred Supplier Lists

Sympathies abound but unless the law changes, brollies get regulated, or the EASI intervenes, ‘Faustian deals’ look set to continue.

Boox responds to MSC investigation by HMRC, slamming it as 'misguided'

More contractor accountants getting assessed as MSCPs is ‘obvious,’ but, for now, one firm is fighting back, forcefully.

Is HMRC accusing you of being a Managed Service Company? Control will be the key

The taxman is seeing how far the boundary of the 2007 rules will stretch, to snare perhaps thousands of PSCs in his net.

Should I tailor my CV and risk agencies receiving several versions of my skills?

Agents only care about one thing -- so get tailoring just like any other bidding, pitching, tendering business.

How to transfer your personal assets to your limited company

Want to cut your tax bill while giving your PSC a PC or two? Top tips to make it all happen.

Contractor pensions advice: Pensions for contractors

Find out the best way to set up a suitable pension as a contractor. 

Growth in IT contractor demand up for the fourth month in a row

March saw temporary tech opportunities expand (again), but beware a stabilising, including in software development.

Can a director of a limited company claim Universal Credit?

An overview to one of the main but still complex benefits that PSCs like to gauge eligibility to.

Fairness in taxation. Legality in taxation. Often contractors, they don’t co-exist

‘Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should.’ And other tax/life lessons that Akshata Murty’s status row can teach us.

Non-dom status storm wobbles an already shaky Rishi Sunak

Chancellor’s ‘whopping’ fall from grace could be cushioned by his wife now agreeing to pay UK tax on dividends.

Change is coming for limited companies on Companies House: be ready for when it hits

Contractors who are directors are wating for the other shoe to drop. Here’s what we know so far.

HMRC’s approach to IR35 has hampered your ability to work in the UK

Drilling down into the worrying reality that it’s now harder than ever to work on a contract basis -- courtesy of the taxman.

How contractors can secure a 15% IR35-related rate rise

Get your contractor pay up, up, and away, before potential ‘soft-landing’ ending jitters grounds it in the doldrums.

End of IR35 soft-landing a ‘big opportunity’ for ‘militant’ HMRC

Penalties being issuable from today for off-payroll non-compliance could scare clients into IR35 status caution.

When clients reverse your contractor IR35 status overnight

A survival guide to shock horror – your ‘outside’ IR35 status getting ripped up and replaced with ‘inside’ IR35.

What a UTR number is and how to get yours as a contractor

A UTR number from HMRC is for life, not just for self-assessing or the imminent new tax year.

Are the costs of eye tests and corrective glasses tax-deductible?

Overview for directors looking to put vision on the company without (HMRC) complications.

HMRC using MSC legislation to extract 'tens of millions in tax,' contractors warned

Out of the blue yet predictably, HMRC sends assessments to PSCs and their accountants -- as it tests ‘the floodgates.’

Limited company Making Tax Digital duties start today. Are you ready?

The April 1st launch of digital tax accounts is here. Don’t be a fool -- get clued up and compliant.

Spring Statement 2022, what a dog’s breakfast from Rishi Sunak

Dry as a bone is an understatement to describe the chancellor’s statement. And that’s being kind.

Spring Statement 2022, what a dog’s breakfast from this chancellor

Dry as a bone is an understatement to describe Rishi Sunak’s statement. And that’s being kind.

FCSA calls on government to stop umbrella company cloning

Trade body wants a multi-organisational response to ‘strike off the clones’ and ‘pursue the perpetrators.’

National press covers umbrella companies falling victim to Companies House cloning

The Mirror reports on the contractor sector’s new fraud, with serious implications for ‘brollies and their users’ not being prevented by the BEIS agency.

What is a tangible fixed assets depreciation policy?

For contractors, the key is to draw up something that’s reasonable, to meet the ‘true and fair view’ requirement.

Spring Statement 2022: Contractor staffing sector frustrated by 'jam tomorrow' chancellor

Rishi Sunak’s ‘here’s what we’ll do later’ package fails to engage contractor recruitment bosses.

Contractors, DBS checks will cost LESS from April 6th

The fees for criminal record checks are refreshingly, bucking the current prices trend.

Remortgaging is trending since Spring Statement 2022 so contractors, get in fast

Money Saving Expert agrees -- for those looking for the best mortgage deal, banking on anything less than a broker isn’t a risk worth taking.

Pressure heaps on Rishi Sunak following Spring Statement 2022

A contactless card; someone else’s Kio Rio and even his wife’s reported dividends. The chancellor’s response following his mini-Budget has not been on the norm.

What the National Insurance threshold increase means for contractors

A breakdown of the NICs floor going up in July, by which times rates will have gone in the same direction.

A contractor’s guide to ‘trickster’ Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement 2022

The mini-Budget untangled, with expert analysis on what the chancellor did and didn’t announce.

Spring Statement 2022: ‘Quiet’ for contractors despite take-home pay reverberations for all

‘Nothing much’ new from the chancellor affecting contractors gives pause to tot up how much he’s giving, and taking away.

Spring Statement 2022: chancellor’s full speech

Rishi Sunak delivers his mini-Budget, ‘to build a stronger, more secure economy for the UK.’

Recovery Loan Scheme: what contractors need to know

Potentially due to feature at Spring Statement, RLS is open until June -- pending a change of heart from the chancellor today.