Covid-19 Support Response – Update

In my previous post I stated that ‘As Directors we are not able to furlough ourselves and therefore would not be eligible for the Governments Covid-19 Job Retention Scheme‘.

I also said ‘the details of these measures are still coming out and there is a great deal of confusion so what I’m about to write may well change going forward‘ – and it has (although a bit quicker than I expected).

CONFIRMED self-employed limited company directors CAN be furloughed as employees on their PAYE element, even if theyre sole employee.

Technically they can't then work for the firm, but can continue to perform their statutory obligations as directors eg official legal filings etc

— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) March 27, 2020

If you don’t know who Martin Lewis is then check out the Money Saving Expert website. Basically, when this guy says something, especially it’s all in CAPS then he’s checked and double-checked the facts. He wouldn’t make this kind of statement without being absolutely sure.

Covid-19 Support Response

With the UK in lock-down due to the CoronaVirus (Covid-19) everyone is justifiably concerned about their jobs and their income.

In an unprecedented move the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a raft of measures from mortgage holidays, deferment of tax payments as well as packages to pay 80% of people income (or £2500/mth).

As wide reaching as the measures are the contractor community is up in arms because we appear to have been left out in the cold.

Now, the details of these measures are still coming out and there is a great deal of confusion so what I’m about to write may well change going forward.

The two main packages are:

• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (link)
• Covid-19 Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (link)

IR35 – Delayed; but not forgotten

Yesterday (17th March 2020) the Government announced that they would be postponing the rollout of IR35 changes into the private sector due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

In the video below, despite the Minister referring to ‘off roll payroll working rules‘ (maybe indicating that he has no real idea what they are), he confirms that the changes will be tabled again ready for implementation in April 2021.

Using Fonts for Icons in Xamarin.Android

Where do mobile developers get their #android icons from? You know, those in the menu like "ic_menu_gallery". I'm creating a new project with a NavDrawer and want to swap out those added by the template. Free or paid (within reason) #xamarin

— On The Fence Dev 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇦 (@OnTheFenceDev) March 2, 2020

I’m currently working on a new privacy application for Android and in a previous post I guided you from the Xamarin.Android Drawer Navigation project template to something that actually worked (as in you could actually use the pretty navigation provided by the template).

Now I wanted to change the menu items to something more relevant with some appropriate icons – I mean, how hard can that be right?

IR35 and the Implosion of the Contracting Market

When I checked Twitter this morning my heart sank – I was watching the new Chancellor (Rishi Sunak) regurgitate the HMRC view of IR35 and the changes to be rolled out into the private sector in April.

He was essentially announcing the Death Knell of Flexible Working as we know it – the contract market will shortly implode even further than it already has.