There are 925 Wetherspoon pubs across the UK and it is the mission of Boris Bennett to collect a chip from each one.

Boris is passionate about his quest and carries a folder of chips around with him to document his journey – each labelled and stored securely in a clear pouch.

His eccentric hobby came to light on Wetherspoons Paltry Chip Count – a Facebook page dedicated to Wetherspoon fanatics who count how many chips they received with their meal (yes, this really does exist).

Although some people have said the challenge must be a wind-up or PR stunt, Boris insists he is deadly serious and has said that he uses Vaseline and wax to prevent his collection going mouldy.

Since posting his collection, it has gone viral, collecting tens of thousands of likes and comments across social media.

In a recent interview with the Metro, Boris said: “I decided to do it because I thought it would be funny to other members of the group, and also because it gives me an excuse to travel the UK to all the pubs.

“I’m trying to just get to as many as possible, if I get too tired, I might pass the baton on to a fellow chip enthusiast.”

In response, Wetherspoon has said that Boris is “one of a kind” and congratulated him on his challenge.

A spokesperson for the pub chain added: “Wetherspoon has numerous fans who love to visit all of the pubs and record their visits. Others take photos of the carpet, but this gentleman is one of a kind. We wish him well in his venture and hope he manages to achieve his aim.”

With the Speaker of the House of Commons by tradition not presiding over the Budget, the Chancellor might have hoped he would escape a rebuke over the number of important announcements disclosed to the media in advance.

That was not to be, with the Chancellor instead receiving a ticking-off from Dame Eleanor Laing, the Chairman of Ways and Means, who takes charge on Budget day.

Before Rishi Sunak rose to the despatch box, we already knew the public sector pay freeze would end. The Treasury had also confirmed there would be £5.7 billion for public transport in city regions, £5.9 billion to tackle waiting lists in the NHS, an increase in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour, £1.8 billion for housing on brownfield sites, as well as further cash for education.

The question, then, was what the Chancellor was saving for the Budget and whether this would include any significant tax changes.

The 2021 Spring Budget marked a post-pandemic turning point in the Government’s approach to tax and spending. Already this year, the Government has announced several significant tax rises. Corporation Tax is rising in 2023 and next year will see Dividend Tax and National Insurance Contributions rise by 1.25 percentage points.

Any taboo around tax rises had been blown apart. But, at the same time, the cost of living has risen rapidly, putting pressure on households and businesses.

The question, then, was how the Chancellor would balance the cost of the spending plans already set out and the need to recognise the pressure on households and businesses against his desire to repair the public finances following the pandemic.

Would taxes rise and, if so, who would be the winners and losers?

• The economy and public finances
• Spending review
• Science and technology
• Hospitality, the arts and culture
• Business and personal taxes
• Conclusion

The economy and public finances

In contrast to his two previous Budgets in Spring 2020 and Spring 2021, the Chancellor struck a strikingly optimistic tone about the country’s economic prospects.

He said that forecasts from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predict economic growth of 6.5 per cent this year, with the economy returning to its pre-pandemic size at the beginning of 2022.

Next year, the OBR expects GDP to rise by six per cent, followed by increases of 2.1 per cent in 2023, 1.3 per cent in 2024 and 1.6 per cent in 2025.

The forecast is significantly better than that presented at the Spring Budget when the OBR predicted economic growth of four per cent this year.

Meanwhile, the OBR’s forecasts for long-term economic scarring as a result of the pandemic and for unemployment have been cut from three per cent to two per cent and 12 per cent to 5.2 per cent respectively.

Acknowledging the increasing pressure on households and businesses, the Chancellor said that inflation is predicted to average four per cent next year.

Turning to borrowing, the Chancellor announced a revised Charter for Budget Responsibility, which will require that:

• Debt falls as a percentage of GDP in normal circumstances
• Borrowing is restricted to investment in future growth and not used for day-to-day spending
• Public net investment does not exceed 3.5 per cent of GDP on average

He said these rules have been met.

Spending review

Moving to the spending review, the Chancellor said there would be real terms increases in spending for every Government department, with overall spending over the parliament rising by £150 billion, averaging 3.8 per cent a year.

He said local authorities will receive grant funding of £4.8 billion, while overseas aid will once again reach 0.7 per cent of GDP by the end of the Parliament.

The Chancellor went on to say that schools funding for each pupil will return to 2010 levels and a tripling of investment would create 30,000 new special school places.

He then set out 1.7 billion of Levelling Up funding for places include Stoke, Leeds, Doncaster and Leicester.

Next, he said there would be £21 billion for roads and £46 billion for railways as well as funding to bring public transport in regional cities in line with that available in London.

Finally, he outlined a £3.8 billion investment in skills and training.

Science and technology

Moving to his plans for science and technology, the Chancellor said that Government research and development (R&D) spending would reach £20 billion by 2024-25 and £22 billion by 2026-27.

However, he said there were problems with the way R&D tax reliefs have been working, announcing plans to expand them to cover investment in cloud technology and data, but also to restrict their use to domestic activities. He did not set out what would constitute domestic activities.

Elsewhere for science and technology, he announced the launch of visa programmes for highly skilled individuals.

He also confirmed a new UK Shared Prosperity Fund worth £2.6 billion to boost skills.

Hospitality, arts and culture

Hospitality was a significant theme in the Budget, with the Chancellor making several announcements targeted at the sector.

400,000 properties used by retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will be able to benefit from a 50 per cent business rates discount.

Meanwhile, the Chancellor announced extensive changes to alcohol duties, which included simplifying the banding to ensure the drinks with the highest alcohol content had higher duties and those with the least alcohol, the lowest duties.

He said this would mean high percentage drinks would attract more duty and the lowest percentage drinks would attract less than they have done until now.

Meanwhile, Small Brewers will be expanded to other small alcohol producers, while there will also be reliefs for draught beers and sparkling wines.

Turning to the arts and culture, he said tax reliefs for the sector would be doubled and extended until March 2024.

Business and personal taxes

Before the Budget, there was some suspicion that business and personal taxes might be at the forefront of the Chancellor’s announcements. However, that turned out not to be the case with them receiving relatively little attention in the speech itself.

The Chancellor made no mention of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and Inheritance Tax (IHT) reforms that had been predicted in some quarters.

Instead, he turned his attention to business rates, saying he would not heed calls to scrap them, instead opting for more frequent revaluations every three years, starting in 2023; introducing an investment relief for green technologies and an improvements relief that would delay increases in rates, in the following 12 months; as well as cancelling the planned increase in the multiplier.

Away from business rates, the Chancellor confirmed a further extension to the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance until March 2023.

He said that, as expected, the planned increase in fuel duty would be cancelled. Also expected, was confirmation that the National Living Wage will rise to £9.50 in April 2022.

The Chancellor announced details of the Residential Property Developer Tax, announced in February 2021, confirming a four per cent levy on companies and corporate groups’ profits from UK residential property, where they exceed £25 million a year.

While not announced in the Budget, the documents published after the Chancellor sat down confirmed that the deadline for paying Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on property would be extended from 30 to 60 days.

Conclusion

The Chancellor struck a markedly different tone from his Spring Budget, with optimism that could have been mistaken for the Prime Minister.

There were no new major tax rises and good news for the beleaguered hospitality sector.

Strikingly, the Chancellor felt sufficiently optimistic to say he planned to see taxes going down by the end of Parliament.

Whether that ambition will come to pass will depend on whether the economy meets the new, more upbeat expectations set out by the OBR.

Official documents link

A contractor ban at Network Rail has been reversed and the Government-backed body is now engaging with PSCs outside of IR35 once again.

It has been revealed that the national rail organisation has made an apparent U-turn on it’s original blanket ban on contractors outside IR35.

According to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) 2020/21 accounts, Network Rail has reformed it’s off-payroll compliance process so that more than 70 per cent of contractors that work with the rail operator are now engaged outside IR35.

According to these latest figures, the DfT and it’s associated executive bodies and agencies used the services of 1,912 contractors during the last financial year – of which more than half (53 per cent) were deemed to be outside of the off-payroll legislation.

More than 1,300 of these contractors worked via Network Rail, with almost three-quarters (74%) of these workers assessed as outside of IR35.

Records for the previous financial year showed that around 99 per cent of the 538 contractors the DfT engaged with had been placed inside the off-payroll rules, suggesting a seismic shift in policy within the Government department.

According to the accounts, the DfT determined IR35 status using HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool in all cases, apart from contractors working on HS2 who were automatically classed as inside IR35.

Andy Chamberlain, Director of Policy at IPSE, said: “It’s certainly good news that Network Rail have changed tack and rowed back from their blanket inside-IR35 assessments.

“After the damage the IR35 changes have done right across the contracting sector, we can only hope this is a sign of things to come, and that more organisations – in the public and private sectors alike – will recognise the legislation does not require all engagements to be processed through payroll. Clients can hire contractors on an ‘outside IR35’ basis and do so perfectly compliantly.

“Contractors and the wider self-employed sector are a crucial part of the workforce – in times of economic crisis and recession more than ever.”

This isn’t the first time that a government department has been forced to U-turn on it’s IR35 status determinations and many hope it won’t be the last.

This news is very encouraging for contractors operating via a PSC and we hope this will give other end clients that had imposed blanket bans the impetus to overturn their decisions.

Now may be a good time to start using your limited company again as more businesses review their policies – especially if you have been on furlough during much of the pandemic.

The Government has been criticised for it’s decision to increase National Insurance and dividend tax as part of it’s new plans for health and social care.

Taxpayers face an increase in their National Insurance contributions (NICs) and dividend tax rates from 2022.

To explain how this significant change may affect you, please use our helpful FAQ below:

How much is the National Insurance rate increasing?

The Health and Social Care Levy will see a 1.25 percentage point increase in NICs.

When will National Insurance rates increase?

The Health and Social Care Levy will be effectively introduced from April 2022. From 2023 it will then “be formally separated out” under new legislation.

Who will the increase affect?

The increase in NICs will initially affect employees over the age of 16, but below state pension age, earning more than £184 per week or the self-employed with profits of £9,569 or more a year. The increase also applies to employer contributions.

From 2023, the Health and Social Care Levy will also apply to individuals working above State Pension age as well. Currently, this group are not required to pay any NICs.

Will the new health and social care reforms affect dividends?

Dividend tax rates will be increased by 1.25 percentage points to help fund the health and social care reforms.

From April 2022, those in receipt of dividends will retain the £2,000 tax-free dividend allowance but will see 1.25 percentage points added to each rate of dividend tax above this.

The new dividend tax rates from April 2022 will be as follows:

• Basic rate – pay 8.75 per cent
• Higher rate – 33.75 per cent
• Additional rate – 39.35 per cent

In most cases, splitting your income between salary and dividends, where possible, will still be more tax-efficient.

Recruitment provider, Guidant Global, has said that businesses must redirect resources to secure the best contingent workers, such as contractors, or risk losing out to their competitors in a ‘talent-scarce market’.

The call to focus more on the needs of contractors has been made as new figures show that a greater number of professionals chose to work outside of traditional PAYE arrangements during the last year.

Despite concerns over legislative change, such as IR35, data from Companies House show that around 14 per cent of UK workers are now self-employed and that in the last 12 months new company registrations increased by 21 per cent.

Guidant Global said that the acute skills shortage has led to a market where candidates have greater choice than ever before about where to take their talents.

There is a growing competition for skills across a wide range of sectors and the use of temporary workers is becoming more important for many businesses’ short-, medium- and long-term strategies, which is leading to greater pay and incentives in a drive for retention.

Simon Blockley, CEO of Guidant Global, said: “The age when non-permanent workers were viewed as an expendable or replaceable commodity is now well and truly over. Today, HR strategists realise that temporary workers are an important part of their organisation’s long-term talent strategy – and retaining in-demand skills in a talent-scarce market is crucial.

“The UK’s contingent workforce is growing rapidly. Trends that were already evident in 2019 have accelerated, and advanced workforce plans now typically include gig workers, independent contractors, freelancers, and project-based workers as well as permanent staff.

“In order to ensure these workers stick around for as long as they are required – and perform to the best of their ability while they are in situ – organisations must actively engage these individuals. While retention strategies may differ slightly from those applied to full-time employees, the principles remain the same. Their experience should be one of support, openness and transparency.

“Businesses that ignore this important segment of the workforce risk losing access to valuable skills, while simultaneously wasting resources in an effort to repeatedly refill the same posts.”

HM Courts & Tribunal Service has been given a significant IR35 bill becoming the third Government body to fall foul of the rules.

Part of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), HM Courts & Tribunal Service has been handed a bill for £12.5 million for failing to follow the off-payroll rules correctly.

Revealed in it’s annual report for 2020/21, the costs related to mistakes made when determining the IR35 status of contractors it engaged between 2017 and 2020.

All of these errors were made after the IR35 reform was introduced in the public sector in April 2017 and continued throughout this period.

In fact, in just the last tax year, HM Courts & Tribunal Service’s had two losses of over £300,000, one of which was the result of an incorrect IR35 decision.

This is not the first time a government department or agency has been caught out by the rule change, with both the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Home Office paying bills of £87.9 million and £33.5 million respectively.

The Home Office, in particular, was fined £4 million for what was described as a “careless” implementation of IR35 reform.

Both the DWP and the HM Courts & Tribunal Service said they had used HMRC’s own HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool to determine contractors IR35 status, raising further questions about the effectiveness of this service.

The revelations of IR35 errors within the Government itself have left many asking how private companies are expected to comply with the rules, with fewer resources and expertise.

A pet iguana had to be rescued from the roof of a pub in Kent after being discovered enjoying the sun.

Ronnie had scaled the Ship Inn’s walls to find the perfect place to bask but his concerned owner hatched a rescue plan to recover him from his precarious perch.

Ronnie was enjoying his time in the sun, when fire crews using an aerial ladder reached the top of the establishment in Folkestone and dropped a net on the surprised Ronnie, who was oblivious to his owner’s panic.

‘Runaway Ronnie’, as he has now become known locally, is thought to have escaped from a window in his owner’s home nearby and has now been safely returned.

The firefighters who saved Ronnie were helped by the RSPCA to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the reptile during the operation.

David Grant, an inspector from the RSPCA, said: “It’s the first time I’ve ever been called out to rescue an iguana, particularly one on the loose on a roof.

“He’d climbed right to the top of the pub and was sunbathing on the roof ridge. We didn’t want him to run off by frightening him unnecessarily, so we used my drop-net to capture him and we soon had him back on the ground.

“Thankfully, he hadn’t suffered any ill effects from his rooftop adventure and I was soon able to reunite him with his grateful owners who lived below.”

Since 19 July, the majority of the remaining Coronavirus pandemic restrictions have ended in England, with a similar reduction of measures in Wales and Scotland.

Commonly referred to as Freedom Day, this final step in reopening the economy has seen many of the rules placed upon businesses removed.

Instead, the Government has decided to make many of the previous measures voluntary, therefore, shifting much of the responsibility onto individuals and employers.

What rules are changing? 

The relaxation of the rules from 19 July differs slightly in each nation of the United Kingdom, but in England, the following measures have changed:

• There will no longer be any limits on how many people can meet
• Social distancing is no longer required, except in some places like hospitals and border control
• Masks and face coverings are no longer a legal requirement
• Night clubs can reopen
• Restaurants and pubs are no longer required to only offer table service
• No limits on visitors to concerts, theatres or indoor events, including business conferences
• Fully vaccinated adults in the UK will no longer have to quarantine for 10 days after returning from nations on the amber list (the previous rules still apply if you are returning from France)
• Under-18s won’t need to quarantine
• Double-vaccinated adults do not need to self-isolate after 16 August if they simply come in contact with someone who later tests positive (if they test positive themselves then they must self-isolate).

Although not enforced, the Government also recommends that people try to meet outside instead of indoors, where possible, and it is encouraging the continued use of face masks in crowded public settings.

The day also marks the end of the ‘work from home’ recommendations made by the Government, however, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for businesses to attempt a “gradual return” to the workplace, where possible (although this will not be legally binding).

Are there any financial implications to Freedom Day?

Although there aren’t any specific rules regarding financial elements of running a business or operating as a freelancer, the 19 July does mark a turning point for many directors.

For those in the hardest-hit industries, such as travel, leisure, hospitality and entertainment, the relaxing of rules is likely to be celebrated as it will allow revenues to rise once again.

However, the changes also come at a time when many of the Coronavirus financial support mechanisms are being whittled away.

The Government has begun to wind down the furlough scheme by increasing employer contributions, reduced the lower threshold for Stamp Duty Land Tax and is tapering away business rates relief.

Here to help

As the pandemic restrictions draw to a close, we just wanted to reassure you that our experienced team are standing by to support you.

Throughout lockdown, we have proudly worked with a wide range of small businesses and contractors to overcome difficult and complex issues and our commitment remains the same as the UK looks to rebuild and recover.

If you need advice or would like to discuss your plans for the future, please contact us.

A new study focused on the IT sector has shown that organisations are advertising a growing number of roles as outside IR35.

The new poll of 1,846 UK contractors looked into how clients have reacted to the implementation of the IR35 reforms in the private sector since April this year.

According to the study, conducted by Qdos, around two-thirds (65 per cent) of the contractors said their clients had defined their work as being inside IR35.

However, the remaining 35 per cent said they were classified as working outside IR35 following the rule change.

Despite these initial findings, experts predict that many more contractors will find themselves working outside IR35 in future.

Businesses must use ‘reasonable care’ when determining a contractor’s IR35 status by assessing their working arrangements on an individual basis.

This assessment must be confirmed in writing to the contractor in the form of a Status Determination Statement (SDS).

Despite many organisations being aware of this, the latest research has revealed that many firms are still falling short of meeting this requirement, with 44 per cent of contractors saying they are unsure whether they have received an SDS from their client or not.

These latest findings have revealed that many private sector firms are still not up to speed on the IR35 regulations, which is creating uncertainties and difficulties for contractors.

If you need advice on IR35 and how it may affect your income, please contact our team today.

With the prospect of jetting away overseas seeing even more remote for many, there has been a significant rise in staycation bookings.

New research from Sykes Holiday Cottage has revealed the top destination for ‘staycationers’ and the impact of this growing trend on the economy.

The new study, published this month, shows that 12 per cent more Brits are booking staycations this year compared to 2019, with 46 per cent of people more likely to consider a staycation now compared to before the pandemic.

Of the holidaymakers surveyed, 33 per cent intend to spend more on their getaway than they did before the pandemic, with the average spend coming in at £940 on their main UK break for them and their family.

Where this money will be spent will be key for many local economies and the study has revealed the top 10 holiday spots for 2021 to be:

• North Wales
• Cumbria
• Cornwall
• Devon
• North Yorkshire
• Yorkshire Dales
• Peak District
• South Wales
• East Anglia
• Dorset

This boom in staycations is likely to support many UK businesses and industries as they begin their recovery.

This will be our last newswire until September, so we hope you all have a wonderful break, wherever you are holidaying this year.