Freelance organisations demand halt to private sector legislation
Organisations have written an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Sajid Javid calling on them to stop new contractor legislation in the private sector.
Eleven groups representing UK contractors and freelancers have asked the prime minister and chancellor to call a halt to the loan charge and extension of off-payroll rules into the private sector.
The organisations – Stop The Off-Payroll Tax campaign, Loan Charge Action Group, Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA), ContractorCalculator, Contractoruk.com, Freelanceuk.com, IT Contracting, Prism, Forum of Private Business, WTT Consulting/WTT Big Group and Professional Passport – have made two key demands, which include:
- Suspending the loan charge before 30 September 2019 and ordering independent review that the PM agreed was necessary during his leadership bid and has supported in a letter to the previous chancellor.
- Announcing that the government will remove the roll-out of the Off-Payroll Tax from the draft Finance Bill and request that the Treasury work with the contracting and freelancing sector to reassess the sector’s contribution to the UK economy and the tax system.
The joint letter also urges the pair to commence a proper investigation into HM Revenue & Customs.
Dave Chaplin, director of the Stop The Off-Payroll Tax campaign and CEO of ContractorCalculator, said: “The change of prime minister and chancellor must now lead to a change of course over contracting, if the Conservative government wants to win back the trust of the sector. This means announcing a halt to the damaging off-payroll tax and the unfair loan charge.
“Up until now, the Treasury has listened to no one other than HMRC, who have continually made a misleading case for these ill-considered policies, which may suit their aim of ‘maximising revenue’ but have already done and will do huge damage to contracting and British business. We hope now that under new leadership, with Boris Johnson as First Lord of the Treasury and Sajid Javid as Chancellor of the Exchequer, we’ll see a new approach, an end to the war of contracting and a commitment to work with the sector to properly recognise and celebrate the UK’s flexible workforce.”
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