Category Archives: Tax

Freelancers and the welfare system

This site has carried plenty of posts about freelancing and employment status, tax status, their pension status, and it probably needs a bit more on the generality of freelancing. We often debate whether ‘freelancer’ is even a thing. It doesn’t … Continue reading

Posted in Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Equipment and kit, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, IR35, Management, Personal Service Companies, Productivity, Skills & capacity, Tax, Universal Credit, Welfare and benefits, Wellbeing, Work-life balance | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Freelancers and the welfare system

Meal expenses – update

It’s a couple of years since I posted here about meal expenses, so a small update is probably due – particularly given the inflationary leap that we’ve seen over the past couple of years. Prior to 2016, HMRC had a … Continue reading

Posted in Employment Contracts, Employment Law and Rights, Freelance working, Tax | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Meal expenses – update

Unexpected rise in self-assessed tax receipts

Public sector finances are looking unexpectedly rosy following better-than-expected tax receipts. As the FT reports… “Jeremy Hunt has received an unexpected £30bn windfall in the public finances ahead of his March Budget, giving the chancellor scope to provide extra support … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Employment, Employment status, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, IR35, Tax | Tagged | Leave a comment

Two freelance tax developments to note

There are two interesting tax developments for freelancers in the past few weeks. One – to Making Tax Digital – is very concrete and obvious, and the other – to IR35 – is a bit more subtle. Bectu members affected … Continue reading

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Government response to Employment Status Review

The government has now responded to the results of their 2018 consultation on Employment Statuses. (The full response can be seen in this document – pdf). The Tl;dr version of it is (paraphrasing very liberally) “people who don’t like the … Continue reading

Posted in CJRS & SEISS, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, IR35, Tax | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

IR35 is back (it never went away). What reforms are needed?

I had planned to post this a few weeks ago, but then Kwasi Kwarteng’s Growth Plan scuppered all of that with its oddly-framed decision to “scrap IR35”. However, we can carry on as usual now that Jeremy Hunt has reversed … Continue reading

Posted in Employment intermediaries, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, ESM4118, Gig economy workers, IR35, Loan arrangements, Productivity, Tax | Tagged | Leave a comment

‘The Growth Plan’ seems to be on it’s knees. What does this mean for Bectu freelance members?

Update: I’m not deleting this post because I think deleting posts is usually a mistake. But I will say that most of what it contained on the 14th October 2022 was irrelevant three days later as the BBC’s Faisal Islam … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, IR35, National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Tax | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

UK economic outlook – forecasts downgraded – what this means for freelancers

Unless someone tells me otherwise, it seems that the biggest issue for many freelancers arising from the cost-of-living crisis is the question of rising fuel costs – and this is likely to hit workers in film and TV particularly hard … Continue reading

Posted in Film & TV industry data, Freelance working, Inflation, Pay & inflation, Tax, Wages and Pay-rates | Tagged , | Leave a comment

More on TV / radio presenters and IR35

Another twist in the tale of TV and Radio Presenters in dispute with HMRC about whether they are self-employed or not. The short version – according to this report on the Contractor Weekly website – is that Paul Hawksbee – … Continue reading

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Useful bookmarks on freelance employment and tax policies

Here’s something written by Alan Lockey for Demos – “Free Radicals – Britain’s self-employed millions urgently need a new deal…” [pdf], and an IPSE’s 2017 ‘tax manifesto’ paper on “A Fairer, More Efficient Tax System” [pdf] (h/t Martin McIvor)

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, IR35, Personal Service Companies, Tax, Welfare and benefits | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Government identity checks system changes

If you are self-employed, and you don’t have any of the following… a UK passport, pay slip, tax credit Northern Ireland driving licence … you may find yourself trying to file your next tax return on paper. I’m mentioning this … Continue reading

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Sunak’s spring statement 2022 – initial details

Firstly, with inflation up again at 6.2% from 5.5%, the growth forecasts are fairly conservative at the moment and “we don’t really know how the situation in Ukraine will affect all of this” runs like a subtext to all of … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Freelance working, Inflation, Low pay, National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Productivity, Tax | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The cost of employing someone

I’ve written something that has been hanging over me for months – something I needed to write to understand the issue myself, but also something that will help me explain this issue to others. It’s here if you want to … Continue reading

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Even more on Adrian Chiles – IBOYOA

Last week, reading about Adrian Chiles judgement, there was one thing that I read, and thought that the report had managed a bit, so i passed it over. It was something about Adrian Chiles being ‘part and parcel’ of his … Continue reading

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights, IR35, Personal Service Companies, Tax | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

More Adrian Chiles (this time, it’s IR35)

This is an unprecedented second post in one day about Adrian Chiles. Tony Lennon has been in touch to nod me towards Chiles’ legal vindication against HMRC where his appeal has established that – in working through his media-based company, … Continue reading

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What does “supervision, direction and control” mean?

Supervision, direction and control” are key factors in determining employment status. Summarising HMRC’s Employment Status Manual (ESM2055 – Agency and temporary workers),  Contractor Calculator has a more succinct explanation – here. The main problem that Bectu is seeking to get … Continue reading

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Actors and tax

I’ve not had any queries across my desk asking about the tax position of actors, though it is something that could be pertinent to our FAA members (though I don’t think that there’s much question that people on relatively short … Continue reading

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Atypical workers – employment status, tax status, modus operandi – some links

I’m preparing a talk on freelance contracts, and I find that looking at the way different organisations explain things is useful for a number of reasons. Firstly, their emphasis may give some insight into how they regard the issue differently … Continue reading

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights, IR35, Personal Service Companies, Tax | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Tax avoidance and Umbrella Companies

I’ve been to a presentation from HMRC about a website that they have launched that is aimed substantially at people who are being asked to work through an Umbrella Company. It tells them how they can avoid charges of tax … Continue reading

Posted in Employment Contracts, Employment intermediaries, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Gig economy workers, IR35, Loan arrangements, Tax | Tagged | 1 Comment

Why ‘the freelance deal’ is a big deal – and not just for the workers concerned.

There’s a long read on this site about the ‘contingent production army’ that manages large parts of the entertainment industry. Thinking about this issue, and processing it has allowed me to get a clearer idea of what our grievances are … Continue reading

Posted in Bullying and Harassment, Disability equality, Employment, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Equality, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gender equality, Gig economy workers, Health & Safety, IR35, Long hours, Management, Mental Health, National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Occupational Health, Personal Service Companies, Productivity, Race equality, Tax, Theatre and Live Events data | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Being an employee v being a freelancer

A bit of fun here…. I had a few conversations with members about IR35 and the whole ’employee v self-employment’ question. I wrote a few things down and then thought this was a useful way of outlining the discussion between … Continue reading

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights, IR35, Personal Service Companies, Tax | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Living Wage will rise to £9.50 an hour

The 59p increase for workers over 23 – up 6.6% from £8.91 reflects the inflationary pressure outlined here a few weeks ago. The new rates will rise from 1 April 2022 as follows: National Living Wage for over-23s: From £8.91 … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Inflation, Low pay, Minimum wage rates, National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Pay & inflation, Tax, Trades Unions, Wages and Pay-rates, Wealth inequality | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Self employed workers using their own home as a workplace

This is an issue where I’d normally point members to Tax for Freelancers (the Bectu tax guide) but I do find that TaxAid often explains things very well – here’s their account of this issue.

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VAT gradually returning to normal rates

Since July 2020, there has been a reduced rate of VAT (5%, and not the normal 20%) charged on transactions in the leisure and hospitality sectors (which includes theatres and live events – a list of who it applies to … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Employment, EU & Brexit, Inflation, Theatre and Live Events data, VAT | Tagged , | Leave a comment

IPSE on the Dividend Tax and NIC increases

Some light weekend reading for you: IPSE have a post up outlining how the NIC increases to pay for social care will impact freelancers, along with a view that the changes to Dividend Tax means that “Government is making it … Continue reading

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights, IR35, National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Personal Service Companies, Tax | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Helping members who have been fined by HMRC for late filing (etc)

The Low Income Tax Reform Group has a very useful page on their site that outlines how to deal with this. Some members working in a disrupted workplace may have missed self-assessment-related correspondence due to Covid disruptions. It’s a very … Continue reading

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More analysis of Social Care Levy announcement

There’s a useful Twitter thread here from The Resolution Foundation with some overnight analysis of yesterday’s announcements, along with a report. There’s also a panel discussion here if you’re really interested… NEW OVERNIGHT ANALYSIS: yesterday the PM pushed Conservatives away … Continue reading

Posted in Labour Party, National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Politics, Tax, The Conservative Party | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The proposed new Health and Social Care Levy

I won’t go into the question of whether or not it’s right to fund this in this way here – this post is mainly an outline of what the proposed levy means for workers in general and freelance workers in … Continue reading

Posted in National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Tax | Tagged , | 2 Comments

At what earnings-level are you better off trading as a Limited Company?

I sent a link to the long-read post on The Contingent Production Army to Kenne Sykes of Blue Skies Partnership (always a helpful source of advice for myself and my predecessor Tony Lennon). The article included this observation: “Examples the … Continue reading

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Theatre Tax Relief paid out £74 million to 3,660 productions last year

According to The Stage [£]… “This represents a £3 million increase on the figure paid out in 2019/20, which was £71 million, and comes amid calls for the tax credit to be increased to help the sector recover after the … Continue reading

Posted in Animation & VFX, Culture policy, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax, Tax incentives, Theatre and Live Events data | Tagged | Leave a comment

Labour shortages increase potential industrial muscle for workers

Today’s FT is full of news about how labour shortages are hitting the economy in numerous ways as a result of multiple market failures [£] which includes the pandemic, the pingdemic, market failure but obviously, we can’t add brexit to … Continue reading

Posted in Coronavirus, Economics, Employment, EU & Brexit, Gig economy workers, Inflation, IR35, Migration & working abroad, Pay & inflation, Productivity | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Freelance Deal: 1. Employment Rights, Tax and Pensions

This is the first draft of the policy document that has been agreed by the Tax, Employment Rights and Pensions Working Group of London Production Division (LPD) on the 7th May 2020. It is a contribution to Bectu’s proposed ‘New … Continue reading

Posted in Employment Contracts, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, IR35, Long hours, Management, Pensions, Personal Service Companies, Skills & capacity, Tax, Welfare and benefits, Wellbeing, Work-life balance | Tagged | Leave a comment

Making Tax Digital – quarterly tax filings from April 2023?

Government plans for Making Tax Digital – a programme that will require about 4.3m self-employed people and small businesses to keep digital records and report their income to HM Revenue & Customs every quarter from April 2023 – are facing … Continue reading

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Construction Industry Scheme (tax for the self-employed working in construction)

Plainly the Construction Industry Scheme doesn’t apply to too many Bectu members (I’d need to get advice on how it could apply to people in set construction by my early guess is that it wouldn’t), but we need to know … Continue reading

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‘Part and parcel’ of an employer’s business

Something to park here for anyone looking at IR35 posts: Bectu has been making the case that many of our members are self-employed because they work outside the “supervision direction and/or control” of their employers/engagers. However, members have replied pointing … Continue reading

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