Will the Budget have any affect on Freelance Contractors?

Date: April 23, 2009

OrangeGenie are pleased to announce that in delivering his Budget for 2009 the Chancellor did not address freelancers or contractors directly; his main focus was on the ‘global’ economic crisis. The main tax-grabbing headlines seemed to be political messages rather than economic fixes – tax the rich help the poor. With the introduction of new tax bands for high earners and loss of tax free status for the next band down, the chancellor is looking to make up for public lending and a spiralling debt.

So contractors in the UK are faced with the usual wait for the small print to be released by the government during the next few days, awaiting confirmation that the Chancellor hasn’t seen contractors as ‘an opportunity to raise more revenue’ which is so often the case it seems.  Over the past few months he has been sending out signals that put contractors and umbrella companies clearly in his sights, so beware if you are contracting and watch this space for OrangeGenie contractor news…we will be keeping a wary eye on HMRC press notices and posting results here!

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