HMRC’s Bizarre Self-Assessment Helpline Saga Rumbles On
HMRC is fast becoming a laughing stock with their self-assessment phone helpline shenanigans! Not only did they close it to most of their customers during their peak time for the service, in doing so shunning over 4m self-employed people, they announced a total closure of the helpline between 8 April – 30 September 2024. Now […]
Self-Employed Delivery Drivers Sue Royal Mail
Royal Mail is being sued for classifying Parcelforce (a Royal Mail subsidiary) delivery drivers as self-employed when they should in fact be workers. Marc Francis, one of the claimants in the case, said that after 10 years of working for Parcelforce he has “had enough”. Despite being classed as self-employed, owner drivers do not have […]
Time Is Running Out – Don’t Be An Easy Target!
Time is running out for three million people to submit their self-assessment tax return submitted to HMRC – the deadline is midnight on 31 January 2024. Please don’t be an easy target for HMRC by missing the deadline as you will be automatically fined £100 even if there is no tax to pay. Self-assessment covers […]
BBC & ITV Investigated For Anti-Competitive Freelance Contracts
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating broadcasters and production companies, including the BBC, ITV, Hat Trick and Tiger Aspect, for potential breaches of anti-trust laws. The CMA said that whilst it believes there are reasonable grounds to suspect one or more breaches of competition law, the CMA has not yet reached a view as […]
‘Hypocritical’ Just Eat Reverts Back To Self-Employed Drivers
Just Eat plans to make 1,700 couriers redundant from as the takeaway delivery firm reverts back to a gig economy model and scraps guaranteed minimum pay, sick pay and holiday pay. The couriers are currently engaged as ‘workers’ will be replaced by self-employed individuals. The decision has been described as “a risky move” and “hypocritical”, given […]
Self-Employed Pension Auto-Enrolment To Come?
An independent think tank affiliated to the Labour Party has suggested that Sir Kier Starmer should promise to introduce a new workplace pension for self-employed people. The Fabian Society said Labour needed to copy the radical approach of the Tuner Commission two decades ago, which encouraged pension saving through opt-out schemes. There needs to be […]
Self-Employed Construction Workers Pay Increases
The earnings of self-employed construction workers are at an all-time high, with average weekly pay across all trades rising to £972 in August 2022. According to the data from Hudson Contract, this was 2% higher compared to July 2022 and a 4.6% increase when compared with the same period in 2021. There were some regional […]
Two In Five Employees Have Considered Going Freelance
Against a backdrop of declining numbers of self-employed people since 2019 (a decrease of 800,000), a report published by IPSE on National Freelancers Day reveals many positives about this way of working: Almost two-fifths of employees (39%) reported that they have considered working for themselves; A third of employees (33%) believe that they could make […]
033 How To Ensure You Actually Get Paid!
Freelancing should never actually be free! But sometimes it can be really difficult to ensure you actually get paid on time by your clients, which can then have a significant impact on your business and personal finances. So we’re talking to Helen Arney who specialises in helping self-employed people and businesses get paid, and she […]