Millions of people, including umbrella contractors, could be in line for an early Christmas present from HMRC in the form of a tax rebate. 6 million income tax rebates will be made following the identification of PAYE errors in the years up to 2007/08.
Young people, including those who intend to work as a contractor through an umbrella company, think they will get a better job if they persevere with their education and obtain good qualifications.
Umbrella company contractors may be concerned to learn that small business confidence collapsed in the third quarter, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.
Umbrella company contractors have the peace of mind of knowing that their income tax is deducted at source. But contractors in the UK who file their own tax returns should be aware that HMRC continues to delay sending out penalty notices despite losing recent tribunal cases.
Umbrella company contractors may be interested to learn that the government has confirmed that it has no plans to make any changes to the Agency Workers Directive that came into force on October 1st.
The PCG recently surveyed the freelance marketplace and discovered that there are currently around 1.4 million contractors in the UK; 41% or 574,000 of them are IT contractors.
Umbrella company contractors working in the banking sector may be distressed to learn that RBS has made across the board cuts of 10% in their IT contractor rates.