Contractors Laid Off Due to Coronavirus
Norway has announced that any contractors laid off by their client companies due to the coronavirus will get 80& of their income. This will be averaged over the last three years.
I’m not sure at what stage they calculate that. It could be 80% of the gross before taxation or it could be 80% after taxation.
Whatever it is they are showing a sign that the value contractors and understand the difficulties they can get into when they have no income coming in.
There are other countries intending to do something similar.
Questions on Contractors Laid Off by the Coronavirus
- Will the UK Government compensate contractors laid off due to the coronavirus?
- How does the UK Government view contractors?
- What did the Matthew Taylor Report recommend for contractors?
Will the UK Government compensate contractors laid off due to the coronavirus
We have hot heard yet from the UK whether they will compensate contractors laid off due to the coronavirus.
The UK Governments, of any persuasion, pay lip service to the self employed and the part the flexible workforce plays in the UK economy.
However, words are easy. Any time it has come to actions they have always hit contractors hard.
How does the UK Government view contractors
Indeed they look upon virtually all contractors as tax avoiders.
Treasury Minister, Jesse Norman, said in Parliament to a question on IR35, that there is only 10% compliance in this area. So, he believes that ten times as many contractors should be paying PAYE as do now.
Contractors are seen as a cash cow who can be tapped any time the Government needs more money. And the Government always needs more money. That’s whether to pay off debts under the austerity of Cameron and May or whether they want to spend, spend, spend like Boris Johnson.
So, will contractors laid off by the coronavirus be any different?
What did the Matthew Taylor Report recommend for contractors
The Government commissioned a report on Self Employment from Matthew Taylor. He made a number of recommendations. All the ones that hit contractors in the pocket were accepted by the Government.
The only recommendation that they did not take was his recommendation that contractors should be able to get benefits like holiday pay, sick pay, maternity pay etc.
So, we will have to wait and see if the UK government does the same as Norway and compensates contractors laid off by the coronavirus.
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