The REC has written to the chairman of the Office of Tax Simplification highlighting the importance of a comprehensive review of the IR35 regulations.

The REC’s Technology sector group recently invited London 2012 Head of Recruitment, Paul Modley, to speak about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead during the countdown to the Olympic Games.

On Tuesday the government published their proposed amendments to the travel and subsistence expenses scheme for workers receiving the National Minimum Wage.

SMEs and umbrella companies have been struggling to get much needed finance from the banks and Vince Cable has now put forward the government’s proposals to force the banks to make more funds available for small companies.

Robert Walters, a specialist recruitment agency, says that the HR sector is now actively looking for people with human resources and corporate responsibility skills. This should come as positive news for contractors who possess the requisite skill set.

We all know that HMRC has been instructed to collect as much overdue tax as possible but it might surprise you to know that it also has a significant amount of overpaid tax claims to work through.

The Voice of Small Business Index shows that confidence amongst SMEs deteriorated in the 2nd quarter of 2010.

The Office of Tax Simplification was officially established by George Osborne and David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary, on Tuesday.

HMRC is set to increase its investigations into tax avoidance and contractors not operating via an umbrella company may wish to get advice from a specialist accountant to ensure that all their tax matters are in order.

Last month saw a surge in the number of IT contractors hired according to Powerchex, the pre-employment specialist. Between May and June, the amount of employment offers made to IT contractors soared by a massive 320%.

The latest employment statistics from the ONS showed a rise in the number of people who are working and this rise is in part attributable to an increase in the number of umbrella company contractors.

De Poel, the temporary procurement agency, says that industry ambassadors and the British press need to get their facts right in light of rumours that the coalition government intends to water down some of the Agency Workers Regulations.