July Contractor News Round Up

Your monthly round-up of July’s top contractor news.

Contractors face new “single compliance process” (SCP) from HMRC

HMRC have been developing SCP which they describe as a single framework in which the majority of future small and medium enterprise business compliance checks will be undertaken, catering for both single tax and cross-tax enquiries. HMRC hopes that SCP will:

• reduce customer burden by reducing the time taken to complete enquiries
• focus the intensity of the enquiry so that it is proportionate to the risks identified – concentrating on the rule breakers and potential rule breakers
• improve the quality and consistency of enquiry work across SME

HMRC ramps up prosecutions for tax evasion among middle class contractors and professionals

In the 12/13 year there were 617 tax evasion prosecutions compared to just 302 the previous year. HMRC’s target in 12/13 had been 565 successful prosecutions. “In the space of just one year, HMRC has massively ramped up the numbers of cases it takes to the criminal courts in order to clamp down on tax evasion,” tax law specialist Jason Collins of Pinsent Masons said.

He also stated that those being targeted aren’t those that owe large amounts of money but more likely were “people like doctors, dentists, lawyers, construction contractors and restaurant owners who have not declared amounts in the tens of thousands.” Collins also warned that HMRC is set to ramp up its criminal prosecutions for tax evasion over the next few years. Its target number of prosecutions for 2014/15 is 1,165.

Link to additional information

Contractors in extractive sector likely to see a boost after Government measures

Recently announced government measures and consultations mean that UK shale gas exploration will accelerate. The measures include a tax package, community benefits and planning to help kick start the shale gas exploration.

Obviously we’ve also seen a lot of issues with the shale exploration with the Balcombe protests over the negatives associated with fracking and worries over how it will affect the British countryside.

Service sector booms as UK heads toward recovery

New figures released show that the service sector (which includes freelancers and contractors) had recorded its best month since the beginning of the financial crisis in the beginning of 2006. This news helps to cement the fact that the UK is returning to economic growth.

The sector growth is tracked by the PMI and the figure for June was 56.9 but leapt up to 60.2 in July. See the graph below, or for more info click the title link.