Covid-19 emergency postpones tax reforms The UK government has delayed proposed changes to the IR35 tax rules until 2021 in response to the COVID-19 crisis. MP Steve Barclay, the chief secretary to the treasury, unexpectedly announced the move on the evening of March 17th and was keen to stress that it was merely a postponement.
IR35 Changes The planned changes to the UK’s Inland Revenue 35 (IR35) Laws are intended to create a clear distinction between independent contractors and full-time employees. By determining employment status, HMRC hopes to ensure that proper tax contributions are obtained. In order to achieve this, IR35 shifts the responsibility for determining the status of workers
A Remarkable Transformation Real minimum wages have increased across Europe this year. The increases have been highest in the Southern and Eastern European countries where minimum wages are the lowest. The only exception has been Latvia and perhaps only temporarily, as the three-year agreement between employers, employees and the government signed in 2017 did not
A no-deal scenario Freedom of Movement is due to end in the United Kingdom on 31st October 2019. As with everything Brexit related, this is not certain. At the time of writing, no Brexit deal has been reached between the UK and the European Union. The UK’s deadline may be extended again, a deal secured,
Through a Time Window, Darkly In April 2020, new rules will be taking effect regarding Capital Gains Tax (CGT). The policy change from HMRC aims ‘to improve collection of CGT by reducing error and increasing compliance; customers will have 30 days following property disposal to file their return and make an advance payment towards their
Identity and security In March 2019 a Lithuanian man was convicted for stealing over $100 million from Google and Facebook through a wire fraud scam. Evaldas Rimasauskas impersonated an Asian hardware vendor and, over a three-year period, sent fraudulent invoices for items that had never been sold or provided. The tech giants combined
Shining a spotlight The #MeToo movement has put sexual harassment in the spotlight, initially driven by a surge of allegations against high profile and celebrity figures and the subsequent injunctions that aim to keep allegations out of the public eye. However, the movement has grown beyond Hollywood, found widespread support and has made an impact
Open All Seasons The sun never stops shining. Businesses that have expanded to the UK will be familiar with the local unpredictable weather. They will also understand that, though you can’t always see it, the sun rises every day. Whether obscured by Atlantic cloud or London fog, the sun still exists – burning just as
There is now less than a year to go before the UK's Data Protection Act (DPA) is replaced by the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will have huge implications for any business that stores personal data online. The new regulation will take effect on 25 May 2018 and the Government has
Although the groundwork for auto-enrolment was laid in the 2008 Pensions Act, it wasn't officially launched until October 2012 and not all employers have started the process yet, although more than 7.5 million people have already been enrolled. The government's plan is to turn this figure into 10 million people by 2018 so
