The self employed umbrella company

In my world, the term "self employed umbrella company" is a tad paradoxical. After all, a traditional PAYE umbrella employs their workers and provides (or should provide) the various benefits commensurate with employment.

GDP growth is good news for umbrella companies

Contractors, recruiters and umbrella companies across the country would have been pleased by the official growth rate figures, released yesterday. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.2% during the first quarter of 2010.

Has unemployment really peaked?

The FSB recently conducted a survey of more than 1,400 of its members and found that 63% of small businesses, including recruitment agencies and umbrella companies, do not plan to increase their workforce over the coming 3 months.

New PAYE fines introduced by HMRC

Limited company contractors, recruitment agencies and umbrella companies could be in line for a series of new PAYE penalties, which have been introduced by HMRC from the start of this tax year.

Lib Dems pledge to target tax avoidance

The Liberal Democrats released their election manifesto yesterday and pledged among other things to crackdown on tax avoidance. They also want to scrap income tax below a threshold of £10,000, costing the UK exchequer around £16.7bn a year.