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9am Lowdown: NIC u-turn, Indyref2 & Brexit

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27th Mar 2017
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Good morning and welcome to Monday’s 9am Lowdown.

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NIC U-turn highlights tax advantages

Philip Hammond’s class 4 national insurance U-turn has highlighted the tax advantage available to the self employed, according to Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

As reported in the FT, Johnson said the episode had highlighted the tax advantages available to the self-employed, and might influence the behaviour of people who had previously been unaware of the savings.

“This will create more problems down the line.” Johnson said. Helen Miller, associate director of the IFS, has said that the differences in the way the self-employed, owner-managers and employees are taxed are “costly, inefficient and unfair”

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May prepares to trigger Article 50; Sturgeon seeks indyref2 vote

Theresa May wants to “build a more united kingdom” as she prepares to trigger Article 50 on Wednesday, according to the BBC.

May has warned that “now is not the time” for a second Scottish independent referendum. The PM is travelling to Scotland to meet with Nicola Sturgeon ahead of the Scottish Parliament’s vote on a new Scottish independence referendum, expected to take place in the autumn 2018 or spring 2019.

May said a second Scottish independent referendum would make the UK "looser and weaker". But Sturgeon wants to give the people of Scotland a choice between a hard Brexit and becoming an independent country.

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Post-Brexit vote demand for interim accountants

Meanwhile, demand for interim accountants has risen by 57% following the vote to leave the European Union.

According to recruiter Global Accounting Network, firms are turning to accountants on a contract basis because of external factors like Brexit and reluctance to hire on a permanent basis. The “real boom” in demand for very senior accounting professionals to work in-house on a project basis rose between March 2016 and February 2017.

Marc Harris, interim management and executive search specialist at Global Accounting Network said: “From an employer’s perspective, investing in an experienced interim, rather than going down the consultancy route, offers fast-track access to a seasoned professional who knows how to get results.

In times of change, or during a permanent headcount freeze, the insight that interims can offer around restructuring, cost-saving or relocating is invaluable.”   

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