IPSE (The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed) have released their recent research which clarifies that independent professionals are confident that they will progress professionally in the next twelve months. However, these self-employed professionals have been warned that this positivity may not last long due to some proposed changes outlined in the Summer Budget that could affect contractors and freelancers hugely.
41% of freelancers are confident they will improve their business performance in the next year although 25% are not optimistic they will progress.
In addition to this, 46% of freelancers confirmed they are expecting their costs to rise in this period. This is a large fear by freelancers due to the amount of changes announced in the Budget such as, increased taxes on dividends, a reduction in the number of businesses who can claim for ‘travel and subsistence’ costs and the strengthening of the IR35 tax regulations which will increase the costs for a business.
The key findings found during these reports include:
- Freelancer’s confidence in their business has risen from +8.9 to +11.8 making it the highest figure on record.
- The confidence in the UK economy has risen +4.0 from +12.1 to +16.1 from the previous quarter.
- The percentage of contractors in work during the period of the survey was 80% which is a 2% decrease from the previous year.
Chief executive of IPSE, Chris Bryce, commented:
“It’s great to see people who work for themselves are confident in their business prospects even as they report their business costs increasing. We’re very concerned that the tough measures outlined in the Summer Budget will push costs up to the extent that many freelancers will reconsider their line of work.”
“The UK needs a robust, confident self-employed community to give our labour market the flexibility it needs to compete in a global marketplace. The people who take the risks associated with self-employment need to be supported in their endeavours.”
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