No Accounting For Taste Ep79: Last-minute guidance, contractors and stress

On this week’s No Accounting for Taste, the editorial team discusses eleventh hour guidance changes, contractors and self assessment stress. Hosts Richard Hattesley and John Stokdyk are joined this week by PracticeWeb’s head of content and keen Budget watcher, Ray Newman. Without a November Budget the team are able to breathe a sigh of relief and take a casual approach to the spending review. But this uncharacteristic calmness conflicts with the last minute panic that accountants have endured this year. This week’s big headlines, and the increase in stressed accountants, demonstrate the toll the eleventh hour guidance changes have had this year, such as the sudden return of the furlough scheme before the job support scheme had even launched. It’s also seen with the news this week that HMRC has confirmed that virtual Christmas parties will be eligible for the annual function exemption. Meanwhile, a first tier tax tribunal involving a contractor having his travel and accommodation expenses disallowed highlighted the plight of this particular client - and even led one AccountingWEB member to declare: “Glad I don’t have any contractor clients”. The team rounds up the session by talking about the big news that self-employed traders had until last week to respond to HMRC’s email about their business status or they won’t be able to make a further claim for SEISS. For links to the stories and the latest news visit: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/content/no-accounting-for-taste-ep79-last-minute-guidance-contractors-and-stress