Ed's snub to self employed

[TestMangler]

Election 2015: Labour to raise £7.5bn from tax avoiders - BBC News

Unless you're a dirty, stinking tax avoider that it...

Ah, better vote conservative then. They're only going after £5bn according to their manifesto.

[NotAllThere]

Labour are the only party who will make Britain a fairer place to live.

Remember the tories have not won a majority at a general election for over 20 years.

Come on Ed, make Britain an great place again

That's fairer™ which means contractors pay more tax than an employee in the same position, and can't claim tax deductable expenses, such as training, that an employee can. I.e. the fairer™ that brought you IR35.

It's related to clear™ - as in "IR35 is perfectly clear™ in its application. If you are liable to pay it, you have to pay it" (Dawn Primarolo when questioned in the House, about the lack of clarity on the applicability of IR35).

[jamesbrown]

Really? You could equally say "about to be faced with the reality of a Tory gov't,"

That's why it's all so exciting.

The probability that the Tories can cobble together sufficient MPs to back a Queen's Speech is pretty small. This is clear from all the probability forecasts I've seen (take a look at the front page of the FT, for example). Perhaps those models, and the polls that drive them, are wrong - it wouldn't be the first time - but I'd rather base an assessment on the evidence as it stands today; a Labour gov't is much more likely.

[jamesbrown]

As for IPSe not being representative - nobody else is saying diddly squat. How many paid up members they have is irrelevant; at least they are standing up and shouting. And being heard...

The number of paid-up members is irrelevant? If recent history is a guide, I tend to agree. They're a lobbying organisation that takes their mandate from the paid-up membership; they don't even have an open website/forum FFS As it stands, they are a re-branded group of professional contractors that are attempting to appeal to the broader self-employed market.

In terms of what the Tories are offering, you'll forgive me if I base my analysis on the history of this gov't, rather than manifesto promises, but they have been, and will continue to be, utterly useless in supporting that segment of IPSE with which I identify - professional contractors, not the self-employed (and if you're seriously suggesting that was down to the Lib Dems, you're truly deluded).

Labour and the Tories will purse a near-identical agenda in the coming years of supporting only those small businesses that are viewed as politically benign, i.e. "proper businesses" that are run by "hard working people". No amount of conflation with the self-employed will help professional contractors, because we aren't politically benign, quite the opposite. In that sense, I'm rather fatalist about the next five years, but I'd merely suggest that it would behoove IPSE to ready themselves for serious scrutiny; I'm sure they have

[malvolio]

The number of paid-up members is irrelevant? If recent history is a guide, I tend to agree. They're a lobbying organisation that takes their mandate from the paid-up membership; they don't even have an open website/forum FFS As it stands, they are a re-branded group of professional contractors that are attempting to appeal to the broader self-employed market.

In terms of what the Tories are offering, you'll forgive me if I base my analysis on the history of this gov't, rather than manifesto promises, but they have been, and will continue to be, utterly useless in supporting that segment of IPSE with which I identify - professional contractors, not the self-employed (and if you're seriously suggesting that was down to the Lib Dems, you're truly deluded).

Labour and the Tories will purse a near-identical agenda in the coming years of supporting only those small businesses that are viewed as politically benign, i.e. "proper businesses" that are run by "hard working people". No amount of conflation with the self-employed will help professional contractors, because we aren't politically benign, quite the opposite. In that sense, I'm rather fatalist about the next five years, but I'd merely suggest that it would behoove IPSE to ready themselves for serious scrutiny; I'm sure they have

Wrong on all counts, but if it makes you happy...

[jamesbrown]

Wrong on all counts, but if it makes you happy...

Not at all, I have a vested interest in IPSE succeeding with their original aims, and I'll be voting in the upcoming CC elections.

[MercladUK]

Election 2015: Labour to raise £7.5bn from tax avoiders - BBC News

Unless you're a dirty, stinking tax avoider that it...

Ooh really? hope you don't have an ISA lady!

[eek]

Ooh really? hope you don't have an ISA lady!

Why is it that the s who fell for the pie in the sky dreams their were promised by the scam merchants who sold them their tax dodgying schemes continually post scare stories that a legitimate means of running a business / saving will be made illegal...

[MercladUK]

Why is it that the s who fell for the pie in the sky dreams their were promised by the scam merchants who sold them their tax dodgying schemes continually post scare stories that a legitimate means of running a business / saving will be made illegal...

Its the words Tax Avoidance that a lot of people don't seem to understand.

Avoiding paying tax is a legitimate action, as per ISA. When did I say ISA;'s will be made illegal?

you should really know better.

[TestMangler]

Why is it that the s who fell for the pie in the sky dreams their were promised by the scam merchants who sold them their tax dodgying schemes continually post scare stories that a legitimate means of running a business / saving will be made illegal...

I would be willing to bet that the majority of the labour or tory 'clampdown' on avoidance will be aimed at legitimate Ltd contractors and Jimmy Smith Gas Fitters Ltd doing jobs for cash. It won't be any of the targets that you would immediately think of.

In two years time, you'll be running an 'FLC' with marginally better tax advantages than IR35 itself.