5 ms·

The contractor premium will get dragged down in a year or two as well - the Tories are planning on kicking up taxes for them in order to bring in an extra £200

The contractor premium will get dragged down in a year or two as well - the Tories are planning on kicking up taxes for them in order to bring in an extra £200 mil. That will probably lead to an exodus of the experienced developers from the UK. This will not only have a negative effect on UK software houses it will also exacerbate the existing problems with UK government IT projects, which have already have a multibillion-pound problem with failure to deliver and cost overruns as it is. Meanwhile, Russian oligarchs are still paying peanuts for their empty central London mansions and big companies are barely paying any corporation taxes.

user5994461 9y ago
Not so sure. People who've been living here often can't just go back to where they come from. They wouldn't have moved to the UK if the situation in their countries was better. The effect so far of Brexit is to stop the flood of newcomers, not making establishing people leave. It's good as a developer, less competitors for the same amount of jobs.
- crdoconnor 9y ago
  I get what you're saying, but contractors by their nature tend to be mobile and motivated by pay. This strongly increases the likelihood of an outflow, especially if companies don't react to the extra taxes by raising pay. The effect is compounded because a) good techies really like to work with other good techies and b) losing most of the good ones also means losing all of the people who can recognize other good techies and hire competently and c) there's a scarcity of mentors too, impeding the ability of junior techies to develop. The UK is still a tech center in spite of Brexit. For now. I've worked in markets before where there's a scarcity of high end talent because it all got sucked away elsewhere and software-wise, these environments produced mediocre crap.
  - user5994461 9y ago
    Contractors are mobile in the sense that they can change company every 3 months. They stay in the same area. They are not mobile to move themselves and their family across the border periodically.
    - crdoconnor 9y ago
      shrug half the ones I know have done precisely that already and I've done it too. I don't doubt that there will always be some that won't or can't cross a border though.
Nursie 9y ago
If taxes go up, I'll need to charge more. I think we should probably pay similar tax levels, but I'm not willing to let it affect my take-home!
MrMorden 9y ago
Has any party even suggested moving council tax to a percentage of assessed value rather than the band system?
- crdoconnor 9y ago
  Yeah, and the Daily Mail went apeshit over the so called "garden tax". Lord Rothermere's country estate is taxed enough already, see.

user5994461 9y ago

Not so sure. People who've been living here often can't just go back to where they come from. They wouldn't have moved to the UK if the situation in their countries was better. The effect so far of Brexit is to stop the flood of newcomers, not making establishing people leave. It's good as a developer, less competitors for the same amount of jobs.

crdoconnor 9y ago
I get what you're saying, but contractors by their nature tend to be mobile and motivated by pay. This strongly increases the likelihood of an outflow, especially if companies don't react to the extra taxes by raising pay. The effect is compounded because a) good techies really like to work with other good techies and b) losing most of the good ones also means losing all of the people who can recognize other good techies and hire competently and c) there's a scarcity of mentors too, impeding the ability of junior techies to develop. The UK is still a tech center in spite of Brexit. For now. I've worked in markets before where there's a scarcity of high end talent because it all got sucked away elsewhere and software-wise, these environments produced mediocre crap.
- user5994461 9y ago
  Contractors are mobile in the sense that they can change company every 3 months. They stay in the same area. They are not mobile to move themselves and their family across the border periodically.
  - crdoconnor 9y ago
    shrug half the ones I know have done precisely that already and I've done it too. I don't doubt that there will always be some that won't or can't cross a border though.

Nursie 9y ago

If taxes go up, I'll need to charge more. I think we should probably pay similar tax levels, but I'm not willing to let it affect my take-home!

MrMorden 9y ago

Has any party even suggested moving council tax to a percentage of assessed value rather than the band system?

crdoconnor 9y ago
Yeah, and the Daily Mail went apeshit over the so called "garden tax". Lord Rothermere's country estate is taxed enough already, see.