A new study has warned that many self-employed workers, contractors and freelancers in the UK could be heading towards a retirement saving crisis.

Insurance company Prudential spoke to more than 1,200 self-employed people across the country and found that nearly half (43 per cent) have no pension at all, compared to just four per cent of employed workers who said they had no savings.

The study also found that:

• 36 per cent of the self-employed say they cannot afford to save for retirement
• 31 per cent say they will be relying entirely on the state pension to fund their retirement
• 28 per cent will be reliant on their business to provide the income they need

The analysis also revealed that self-employed workers are more likely to save generally, if not for a pension, in order to create a safety net for themselves (64 per cent save in comparison to 57 per cent of those in employment).

Worryingly, only one in 10 self-employed workers see a financial adviser regularly, despite one in five (19 per cent) reporting that they are not confident with money and financial matters.

The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) said the recent findings mirrored it’s own recent research on pension savings amongst self-employed workers and is calling for more action to help workers save.

If you wish to seek specialist advice on contractor pensions, we can recommend you to a specialist firm of Independent Financial Advisers in order to maximise the potential tax breaks.

We have developed a close relationship with M & N Insurance so that you can draw on their experience and expertise to meet all of your pension requirements.

Please contact Jeremy on jeremy@cmeasy.co.uk for further details. You may receive preferential rates if you are a client of Cogent.

The archetypal 9am to 5pm working day might be so ingrained into the psyche of workers across the Western world that Dolly Parton wrote a song about it, but new research has revealed that it is now an unusual way to make a living for UK workers.

The YouGov survey found that just six per cent of UK workers now work the typical 9 to 5.

Instead, researchers discovered that nearly half of those questioned enjoyed flexible working arrangements, such as freelancing, contracting and working zero-hours contracts.

Respondents said that they preferred this much more flexible approach to work as it enabled them to mix their work with other commitments.

There was little appetite from respondents to the survey, commissioned by fast-food chain McDonalds, to return to the 9 to 5, either.

The workers questioned revealed themselves to be larks, rather than owls, with 37 per cent wishing to work from 8am to 4pm and 21 per cent wishing to work from 7am to 3pm.

A once-popular restaurant chain in China has lost millions of pounds in market value following an unusual complaint from a mortified customer.

Xiabu Xiabu, which has restaurants across China’s Shandong province, has lost an estimated £145 million after it served a pregnant woman a soup containing one very furry unwanted ingredient.

According to a report in Sky News, the mother-to-be, who was dining at a Xiabu Xiabu restaurant in Weifang, was horrified to find a boiled rat lurking in her hotpot.

The disgruntled customer, who fished out the furry mammal using a pair of chopsticks, took photos and videos as proof prior to issuing a complaint to the restaurant’s manager.

Naturally, the content quickly ended up being circulated across social media, giving the restaurant chain a bad name and pushing it’s nationwide sales down by a shocking 12 per cent.

Some might see this as unfair, but reports suggest that the restaurant’s owners were not exactly very forgiving when the unnamed customer and her husband approached them to issue a complaint beforehand.

According to reports, instead of a discount on their final bill, an apology, or an offer for the pregnant lady to undertake a medical check-up, the outlet effectively tried to haggle with the couple, making cash offers in an attempt to keep them quiet.

A new study suggests that confidence among UK contractors and freelancers has bounced back to a record high following a temporary period of gloominess.

With Brexit and recent changes to IR35, contractors have faced a number of challenges and uncertainties in recent years, yet the latest figures from the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) reveal that freelancers are resilient and currently eyeing-up a bright future regardless of whatever further challenges might be ahead.

According to the data, contractor confidence has risen from a reading of just 5.3 last year to hit a very optimistic-looking 14.3.

Commentators have been keen to point out that, although ‘small-sounding’ in terms of numbers, this reading represents the highest confidence score among contractors and freelancers since the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2015 and before the Brexit vote.

Suneeta Johal, IPSE’s Head of Research, said that “resilience and determination” in the face of uncertain times were “key factors” behind the impressive annual growth in contractor confidence.

“Against all odds, contractors now have the highest confidence outlook for their business level since before the EU referendum… [despite] the negative forces ranged against the self-employed right now.”

Commentators have said that the figures should not be taken lightly, as previous studies have suggested that freelancers are likely to see the ‘cost of contracting’ increase by around 13.7 per cent in coming months due to IR35 changes amongst other issues.

At times such as these, it is perhaps more important than ever for contractors to seek specialist tax planning advice to ensure they are financially fighting fit.

Firefighters in North London have suffered some bizarre verbal abuse in recent days at the hands of a potty-mouthed parrot.

The Fire Rescue Service was called to Cuckoo Hall Lane in Edmonton after a resident’s macaw parrot escaped and took up long-term residence on a neighbour’s roof.

According to reports, Jessie the parrot hung around on the roof for three whole days – with RSPCA representatives (and the parrot’s doting owner) unsuccessful in their efforts to coax the creature down without the help of the emergency services.

When the Fire Rescue Service arrived, the plot thickened, after the bird begun chirping obscenities at its intended saviours – some of which were even in Turkish and Greek.

“Jessie had been on the same roof for three days and there were concerns that she may be injured, which is why she hadn’t come down,” watch manager Chris Swallow said.

“We were told that to bond with the parrot, you have to tell her ‘I love you’, which is exactly what the crew manager did.

“While Jessie responded ‘I love you’ back, we soon discovered that she had a bit of a foul mouth and kept swearing, much to our amusement!”

Firefighters’ efforts to tell Jessie to “come” in English, Turkish and Greek proved unsuccessful for a long while until, eventually, the bird decided to fly back down to its owner.

The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) has called on the Government to rethink its proposals to reform Rent a Room tax relief, amid concerns that the changes could result in “unnecessary complexity.”

In recent days, the Government has unveiled plans to introduce a so-called ‘shared occupancy test’, which would see that anyone who rents out a room in their home is only able to claim the relief if they are ‘present’ at the time the room is being rented.

In its policy paper, the Government said: “Those taxpayers that do not satisfy this test will no longer be eligible to claim Rent a Room relief.”

Under the existing rules, landlords or anyone else renting out a room in their main residential property are able to earn up to £7,500 a year tax-free. Furthermore, many of those who enjoy this relief rent out their rooms while they are away.

At current, the new rules are due to be introduced in April 2019. However, at this stage, it remains unclear whether or not HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will require landlords to ‘prove’ their shared occupancy in order to claim Rent a Room relief.

The AAT has voiced concerns that either way, the proposed changes would prove problematic.

On one hand, it says that if a burden of proof was introduced, this would force landlords to keep “laborious” records of which dates they were – and were not – at home each year.

On the other hand, if the Revenue decides not to introduce a burden of proof, this could inadvertently encourage “widespread abuse” of the system.

“A shared occupancy test is a headache being created for what the Treasury’s own analysis states will be a ‘negligible’ impact on tax receipts,” an AAT spokesperson said.

“The best solution for landlords, tenants, policymakers and the economy would be to drop these plans and allow Rent a Room relief to continue as it has for over 25 years as a simple to administer, easy to understand tax relief that’s available to all.”

It also warned that the proposals could force those taxpayers who let out rooms whilst they are away to have to rely on the much lower £1,000 property allowance instead of Rent a Room relief in the near future.

***PLEASE IGNORE THIS REMINDER IF YOU HAVE ALREADY SENT US YOUR QUESTIONNAIRE***

If you would like Cogent to prepare and file your 2017/18 tax return and you have not yet sent us your completed Self-Assessment Tax Return Questionnaire, you will need to do so by 30 September 2018 to benefit fully from our discounted fee.

If you have a second shareholder, they may also need to file a tax return, even if they haven’t previously; this is due to the changes to dividend tax from April 2016 which affect many dividends over £5,000.

The standard charge including VAT for a basic tax return is £240. Questionnaires received by 30th September 2018 will receive the full discount on a basic tax return, charged at £85. If your questionnaire is received between 1 October and 31 December 2018, the fee will be discounted to £120; any returns received after 31 December 2018 will be charged at the full rate of £240.

Please note, more complicated tax returns where additional work or supplements are required, will be subject to additional charges.

Our Cogent deadlines have been set so that we can complete your return in time to meet the HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) online filing deadline of 31 January 2019. Penalties for late filing of tax returns can be as much as £1,600, even when there is no tax due, so please ensure your tax return is filed on time, whether you ask Cogent to prepare it for you, or you have made other arrangements

You can request a questionnaire for 2016/17 by emailing tax@cogentaccountants.co.uk.

Please complete the questionnaire and return it together with any attachments to tax@cogentaccountants.co.uk.

You are required to file a tax return if:-

• You have been asked to file one by HMRC
• You have a tax liability for the year (e.g. additional and higher rate tax, or if you have any income which has not been taxed at source)
• You have a new source of income that needs to be declared

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Please note that due to impending holiday commitments, our offices will be closed on the following days:

• Monday 1 October and Tuesday 2 October

We will be open for business as usual on all other dates.

We thank you in advance for your understanding.

In a policy document published by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) earlier this week, the tax authority has requested new powers to be able to access taxpayers’ bank accounts without requesting permission beforehand.

The ‘shocking’ request, which comes as part of new plans to crack down more aggressively on tax evasion, has caused a media storm, with some criticising the proposals as a “troubling” effort to invade peoples’ privacy.

Under existing laws – which date back to 1970 – HMRC is required to contact banks, lawyers, accountants and other third parties to request access to such information. From here, these institutions will notify customers of HMRC’s intent to access their bank statements and other personal information.

However, the tax authority has voiced concerns that this level of transparency and bureaucracy proves ineffective when it comes to launching investigations and that HMRC would benefit from being able to be able to draw ‘a veil of secrecy’ over such inquiries.

It says that the existing system uses up a “disproportionate amount of resources” and that the process needs to be more streamlined so that HMRC is better placed to crack down on income, Capital Gains Tax (CGT), corporation tax and VAT avoidance.

It adds that foreign Governments have repeatedly complained that the system is “onerous” when it comes to launching tax investigations into individuals with a connection to the UK.

Under the requested changes to so-called ‘information orders’, HMRC would be able to examine personal bank accounts in order to determine whether or not taxpayers are paying the correct level of tax, reports suggest.

The proposals have attracted widespread criticism.

John O’Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Giving the taxman powers to access taxpayers’ bank accounts without notifying them is a sinister step that would undermine fundamental freedoms.”

Meanwhile, Justin Modray, of consumer advice group Candid Money, added: “Anything that gives the taxman more power to dive into your finances is a concern. There are people who do evade tax, and the more that’s clamped down on, the better. But the fear for ordinary people is that HMRC could be poking around in your bank account and you wouldn’t know anything about it.”

Earlier this month, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) put out a press release warning taxpayers to watch out for fraudulent websites posing as genuine HMRC resources.

According to HMRC’s own research, a ‘record’ 20,750 malicious sites have been taken down in the past 12 months alone – 29 per cent more than the number of ‘fake’ HMRC websites that had to be removed the previous year.

The Revenue also warned that other types of scams were still common – such as phishing emails and bogus text messages.

Such opportunistic scams are usually distributed to taxpayers at random, in an attempt to trick the recipient into opening an attachment or clicking a hyperlink, or fool them into handing over personal information.

HMRC advised online users to report websites, individuals and organisations if they suspect they are involved in fraudulent activity. More importantly, it also pointed out that no reputable bank or official Government organisation will ask a user to hand over their PIN, password or bank details.

Commenting, Mel Stride MP, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said: “The criminals behind these scams prey on the public and abuse their trust in Government. We’re determined to stop them.

“HMRC is cracking down harder than ever, as these latest figures show. But we need the public’s help as well.

“By doing the right thing and reporting suspicious messages you will not only protect yourself, you will protect other potential victims,” he said.