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SPA welcomes move to define 'professional contractor'

Published on Feb 8, 2010 |

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The SPA, which represents contractor accountants, umbrella companies and other service providers, has welcomed the recent announcement to produce a formal definition of a 'professional contractor'.

Definition of a 'professional contractor' needed

Last week, outlining its aims for 2010, Professional Passport stated that a a recognised definition of a 'professional contractor' could reap benefits for contractors, Government, recruitment agencies, and end clients.

By differentiating between professional (career) contractors and other groups, Professional Passport says that contractors could be removed from punitive tax legislation such as IR35, the AWD and "income shifting". Such a definition could also benefit recruitment companies by removing red tape and bureaucracy, and could also benefit end clients due to the removal of any threat of employment rights or tribunals.

Government must understand needs of flexible workforce

The Chairman of the Service Providers Association, Stuart Davis, expressed his desire to support this move:

"SPA welcomes this announcement and we wish to express our support for their endeavour. This latest development is directly in line with SPA's ongoing work relating to the MSC consultation, the taxation of expenses for temporary workers and the Agency Worker's Directive. The flexible workforce is of vital importance to the UK economy but there is a well established lack of Government understanding, as illustrated most recently by its plans to implement the AWD."

"We welcome any move by like minded organizations to address the lack of clarity when it comes to definitions of the flexible workforce and support any steps that seek to address this problem. What we'd like to see now is a fresh and innovative approach to this issue. Rather than just reacting to problems, the Government should be looking at solutions..."