The Gabem Umbrella Companies Blog:
Home of Umbrella Company Gossip Online

So with the Pre-budget Report came good news for pretty much everyone; the £120 rebate issued earlier this year has been made permanent and increased to £145 from April, VAT has fallen to 15% meaning the more you spend the more you'll save (although I've worked out what it might mean to me, and it's not a huge amount), and more money to pensioners as a Christmas bonus.

There was additional good news for umbrella companies and the contractors that use them; in what was probably the only news that didn't leak out of the Treasury prior to Alistair Darling's speech it was announced that:

"Following the consultation Tax relief for travel expenses: temporary workers and overarching employment contracts, the Government has decided to leave the current rules unchanged. However, in the light of evidence from the consultation confirming poor levels of compliance in this area HMRC will refocus its efforts to ensure that the current regime is properly applied. If compliance does not improve, the Government may return to this at a later date."

(section 5.104 for those of you who like me are sad enough to have downloaded the whole document (available about half way down this article from the BBC))

Whilst this is excellent news for all concerned, the sentiment is less an endorsement and more a case of "right now we've got bigger fish to fry, but we're watching you". This news doesn't change anything here at Gabem, but I can't help but hope that it encourages those companies playing fast and loose with expenses to pull themselves together and stop taking the risks they do, for their customers sakes if not for their own.

I'll have another installment of determining your employment status for you on Friday. In the meantime look after yourselves, and drive carefully.

Hugo
26/11/2008