autumn statement Articles

Starting with the more positive news for business motorists to come out of Phillip Hammond’s debut Autumn Statement, fuel duty has been frozen for the seventh consecutive year, meaning that contractors aren’t faced with having to dig deeper in order to put fuel in their vehicles, and nor are the firms some of them work for, such as couriers or construction companies.

The lamentable state of UK roads often results in delays along with damage to vehicles’ wheels, suspension and other components, so additional welcome news for contractors who drive is that an extra £1.1 billion will be provided by the government by 2020-21, aimed at relieving congestion and upgrading key roads. £220 million will also be spent on alleviating notorious pinch-points, helping the self-employed make more efficient use of their valuable time.

Self-employed workers, landlords and small business owners are all faced with the prospect of having to fill out four tax returns every year.

Filing accounts quarterly will bring small operations, who currently only have to send their accounts to HMRC once a year, into line with large corporations. Some believe that the extra administrative burden could be harmful to taxpayers but we believe that Umbrella.co.uk accountancy customers will fare better than most.

The plans, which were only recently discovered having been slipped into the small print of George Osborne’s Autumn Statement, will affect around four million Britons. 

With the ink barely dry on the Autumn Statement, chancellor George Osborne has announced that his 2016 Budget will take place in less than four months’ time on the 16^th of March.

Importantly, this date is just before the new April tax year, which opens up the possibility that the Chancellor could enact some last minute tax changes that could be disadvantageous to contractors. 

Umbrella contractors, like those employed by Umbrella.co.uk, had a number of reasons to smile yesterday as the Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Autumn Statement address to the House of Commons.

Following months of speculation about the impact of tax changes for contractors, the statement was relatively mild compared to some of the expectations in the contractor community.

The biggest relief for contractors employed by umbrella companies is that on first reading it appears that they will still be able to claim tax relief on their Travel and Subsistence expenses.

Our interpretation of the restriction on Travel & Subsistence expenses is that it will only apply to contractors working through their own limited company that are caught by IR35 legislation.