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3 minutes

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648

2020

And yes it is impossible to reboot the year 2020.

On Wednesday, 1st January 2020, I had no idea what COVID-19 meant. It might have been a News Years Day tomorrow off some infection into China, but like for many of you, I was too busy sleeping off the night’s celebrations. Little did we know, what was to emerge over the next few months or so.

• COVID 19 – Global Pandemic
• Conferences, the physical kind
• Devoxx UK , Devoxx Belgium
• Oracle Code One in Las Vegas
• Hoping for a big contract outside IR35
• Work has definitely changed, but has it for the better?
• Remote – it may be the future
• My prediction of the future of office working: 50% / 50% breakdown (remote / shared office)
• It depends on eventual COVID 19 remedies: cure / vaccines / tests
• Family life
• Major disruptions: emotional, stress, privacy, relationships
• Disruption: environment, mental health, COVIDIOTS
• Extended family: can be beneficial or can be hopeless (lock down after lock dock event)
• Future of work, especially contracting *** PUT LINKS *** (If you are an employee, or don’t care, you can ignore this pile of doo-doo. However for UK contractors it definitely stinks
• IR35 in the UK
• Private sectors want to deploy INSIDE IR35 –
  Contracting but you are PAY AS YOU EARN. The government will tax on your gross income. Not on net. Rich guy / Poor guy (Kawasaki). *** PUT A LINK IN HERE ****
• Loan Charge disappointed – government tory will block any reprieval attempts to postpone the Finance Bill 2020

Perhaps, I have written the order of this list wrong. I can agree with you, if you prioritise the loved one and families first. A lot of people do. Rather, I thought about this as I started to write the notes and then thought let’s keep it professional for the first blog entry again. I may reconsider this thought going forward.

Yes. I’m blogging again. This is good news. I have been super busy. Thankfully, I am working again since beginning of March. I heard the bad stories of furloughing and enforced redundancies. Those of you who are affected by these difficult circumstance take heart of the advice: You are NOT redundant, but obviously, your JOB was redundant. It is tough to get through and see the light at the end of the tunnel, if you have been undfortunate to be involved in a RESTRUCTURING. Just know, you will get through it to the other side. You just have to believe in yourself in order to make it.

The government appears to determine to shut down contracting in the UK through enforcing IR35 in the private sector.
It means companies are blanket assessing contractors and taking away the option of working outside IR35.
The new law comes into force on 6th April 2021.

The government strategy appears to be stiffle the middle-class. The loan charge was a result of HMRC’s failure implementation of IR35 process, and now contractors, and other non-employee workers freelancers, doctors, consultants in the last 20 years suddenly are facing potential life-changing financial bills. If the law was correct in 2004, 2010 and 2015, contractors should not have pay for the tax general ineptitude in collecting through poor assessments. Indeed, IR35 caused a snow ball of fast-and-quick sellers of umbrella companies, employment benefit trusts and these scheme providers have disappeared and somewhat they are not accountable. Yet the lowest rung in the table, the contractor is now responsible, do me a favour? How many contractors knew their tax law and regulations inside and outside in 2004, 2010 and 2015?

Probably my frequency of blogging will vary from a wee while: I will try weekly blogging other I will make it fortnightly.

Yes I am producing online courses again and I have some in the works

So there you have it. Reboot of the flipping 2020 is impossible in this date and time.

+PP+